Autumn Newsletter 2021

Dear FMCA Members and Supporters,

We hope you are all looking forward to returning to FMCA sessions on Friday 17th September and it will be great to see you all again! The Covid-19 rules inside St Peter’s Church have changed slightly – we can sit slightly closer together and masks need only be worn when not playing. You can still continue to use your specialist music masks while playing. Please continue to use the hand sanitiser, the track and trace app and sign in as usual. All rubbish needs to be taken home with you as there are no bins in use. If you have any concerns about playing again in groups, please contact FMCA via email or talk to Nyree or Maxine on 17th September at St Peter’s.

Please arrive to set up your music stand and collect your music at least 5 minutes before your first session – you may also wish to bring a stand light.

Autumn term music groups

6.00 – 6.30pm	Recorder consort
6.30 – 7.10pm	String ensemble
7.10 – 7.50pm	Orchestra for all
7.50 – 8.10pm	Break
8.10 – 8.50pm	Concert band

The tuck shop and hot drinks are available for an hour from 7.10 to 8.10pm. Many thanks to Sophie and Adrian Megicks for again organising and running the tuck shop.

Autumn term dates

17th & 24th September

1st, 8th & 15th October

5th, 12th, 19th & 26th November

3rd December (concert rehearsal) and 4th December is the Christmas Concert, 7pm

FMC has a reduced membership since we stopped playing due to the Covid pandemic in 2019, due to members moving to new schools or changes of circumstance. We also lost donations, grants and payments for engagements last year and this summer. This means that we need to again gradually build our membership and try to gain funding again to break even on costs.

As you know, our aim is to provide reasonably priced group playing, a learning together environment and enjoyment in playing with all ages and abilities, with more experienced players helping and encouraging those that need help. FMCA would like to develop musical outreach opportunities that promotes community music-making and encourages young children, students having formal lessons and adult players returning to playing to make music together. If you know of any musician of any age that might like to play with us, please encourage them to join FMC!

Membership fee: The termly cost of membership has increased to £20 for students under 18 and £30 for adults with a discounted family price of £60 for 2 students and an adult. We have increased it to cover rental costs, etc. but it is still excellent value for 10 sessions.

We would prefer that you pay by bank transfer (please remember to include the players name for reference) and please email FMCA to show that you have paid at fenlandmusiccentreassociation@gmail.com, otherwise please put money in a named, sealed envelope in the basket in church.

And finally: goodbye, good luck and a massive thank you Kevin Wang, who moved onto further study in September and attended and supported FMC for many years. We will miss you!

Start of rehearsals

Rehearsals will begin again on Friday the 17th September, followed by a break on 22nd and 29th October, then starting again and ending with a concert on the 4th December.

The groups’ timings are as follows:

6:00 – 6.30pm	Recorder consort
6:30 – 7:10pm	String ensemble
7:10 – 7:50pm	Orchestra for all
7:50 – 8:10pm	Break
8:10 – 8:50pm	Concert band

This schedule may be subject to slight adjustments as we go along and get used to it. We look forward to seeing you all at rehearsals.

Covid/lockdown update

It will not come as a surprise to find out that we will now not be able to meet back up due to the lockdown restrictions that come into force on Thursday this week (November 5th).

We will monitor the situation and remain positive. Ceri & Beth are hoping there might be an opportunity to offer a pre-Christmas playthrough session at some point. Obviously we won’t know if this is feasible until the beginning of December, but we’re hopeful that as we’re supposed to come out of lockdown at the beginning of December it may be possible for us to come together mid-December, potentially on Friday the 4th or 11th just for a festive Christmas playthrough.

Just to let you know as well that we will release our newsletter once we all get back to playing.

Everyone’s health is paramount in our minds so until we meet back up please take care of yourselves.

— FMCA Committee

COVID-19 Update

In line with government guidelines on the Covid-19 virus, we have decided to cancel our showcase on Saturday 21st March.

Please also note that FMCA rehearsals at March Community Centre will be suspended with immediate effect until after the Easter break.

Spring Newsletter 2020

Dear FMCA Members and Supporters,

Thank you to all musicians and their families and friends who attended and helped with the concert and donated raffle prizes. We had good attendance again and would like to thank Kevin Godbold for raising our profile in the local press and radio. Thanks also to Rosemary and David Harrison who again sponsored the church hire fee. We raised £564 from the ticket sales and raffle.

Our musical theme for spring and summer 2020 is ‘Music from the British Isles’.

Spring Term Events

The main event this term is ‘A Fenland Musical Showcase’ on 21st March at St Peter’s Church, March. March Can’t Sing Choir will also be performing, with FMCA providing the musical accompaniment to a few pieces. This event is designed to showcase instrumental talent in March and at FMCA. Any soloist wishing to play should speak to Beth or Ceri.

A free playing workshop is being held between 4pm and 6pm for training orchestra players with an open invitation for any orchestral musicians from March to join in. There is also a chance to try out a selection of orchestral instruments from 3 – 4pm. Please see the poster on our website for details and promote it where you can. We hope that more musicians from March will be inspired to join us at FMCA to build numbers in our musical groups.

Please can you help?

As you know, FMCA is a volunteer run charity and we always need more practical help. We would like assistance with the following if you can spare the time:

Tuck Shop sessions 6.30pm – 8.30pm

Helping with the tuck shop involves setting out the tuck, making a few teas and coffees and taking money for tuck at breaktime when the Training Orchestra finishes at 7.15pm and/or other groups finish at 8.15pm. If you are able to occasionally help with this, please speak to Nyree or Harriet or
Sophie.

Ideas for Fundraising and help to organise and run any events

To help us generate the income to cover costs without raising fees we are hoping some adults and young people will come up with ideas for fundraising & social events. Please email FMCA or speak to Nyree, Maxine or Harriet if you can help with a fundraising social event.

Are you working for a company, or know someone, that might sponsor an event or donate to us? Please tell us so that we can write to them to ask if they are interested in helping out.

Diary Dates

~~Saturday 21st March~~	~~A Fenland Youth Musical Showcase, St Peter’s Church, March~~
Sunday 26th April	Concert Band play in the Market Square, March at St George’s Fayre
Saturday 20th	June Concert with Guildenburg Choir at St Peter’s Church, March
Saturday 27th	June Rotary Concert at St Peter’s Church, March (All FMCA groups) 7pm
Saturday 4th July	Coffee Concert at St Peter’s Church, March (Recorder Consort) 11am
Sunday 5th July	Summer Music at West End Park Bandstand 2 – 4pm

FMCA Spring & Summer Events 2020

Saturday 20th June – Concert with Guildenburg Choir @ St Peter’s Church, High St, March

For Intermediate Orchestra (& Community members), Training Orchestra & Recorder Consort

5.30pm – 6.30pm	Rehearsal for Intermediate Orchestra & Guildenburgh Choir
7pm	Concert with Orchestras, Recorders and Guildenburgh Choir

Saturday 27th June – FMCA Rotary Concert @ St Peter’s Church, March

Friday 26th June – FMCA session @ St Peter’s Church, March for concert practise. For all FMCA Groups Please donate items for the raffle.

7pm

Concert

Saturday 4th July – Coffee Concert@ St Peter’s Church, High Street, March

For Recorder Consort

11am	short concert

Sunday 5th July – Summer music @ West End Park Bandstand

For Concert Band, Swing Band, Recorder Consort & Wind Ensemble

2pm – 4pm

Playing in the Bandstand

Autumn Newsletter 2019

Dear FMCA Members and Supporters,

Thank you to all those who took part in the summer term events – St Georges Fayre, Picnic in the Park, the Rotary concert at St Peters Church (which raised £684) and the Bandstand Concert. We played ‘Music from the Movies’ themed pieces and are grateful to all the local organisations involved for their sponsorship and donations. We are playing our usual festive Christmas music this term.

Many thanks to our website expert, Matthew, who is currently updating our website by giving it a new, improved look. We are looking to add a lot more information about FMCA and make it easier to access important information. We also intend to streamline our Facebook page and update it more frequently over this year.

Thank you also to Sophie, Henry and Adrian, who do a vital job in stocking and running the tuck shop as well as being front of house at concerts.

Diary Dates

Please see Ceri or Beth if you are unable to play on any dates:

1st December March Christmas Market 1.10pm – concert band only
6th December Concert Practice 6pm onwards at St Peters Church
7th December Christmas Concert 7pm at St Peter’s Church, March
20th June Concert with Gildenburg Choir
27th June Summer Rotary Concert

Can you help out?

We need occasional assistance with the tuck shop so that pressure is not just on one or two people every week if you can help out. The tuck shop is popular with children and adult players during break time. To help generate more income to cover costs without raising fees, we also need ideas for fundraising and help organising social events. Please speak to Nyree, Maxine or Harriet if you have ideas or can help organise something.

FMCA finishes after the concert on 7th December and starts again on 10th January 2020. Have a great Christmas!