For a small, amateur orchestra, the Wessex Concert Orchestra undertakes some quite amazing projects (like, for example, performing major open air concerts which are normally the preserve of professional orchestras). Our last such concert (in July 2007) suffered from the vagaries of the British weather resulting in the concert promoter suffering major financial losses and, as a consequence, he is no longer staging open-air “Extravaganzas”. You may remember that the South West suffered from flooding of near-biblical proportions and there was a real risk that, like the band on the Titanic, the WCO would go down still playing stoically. Perhaps there should even be a Italian performance direction marked in scores for such occasions – maybe “stoico e flottante”? Incredibly (although many of the county's roads were under several feet of water at the time) every single member of the seventy-strong orchestra made it to the concert (even if some did come by tractor!). I was particularly grateful for my ‘cello case, which in extremis could double as a canoe. The audience, although somewhat smaller than hoped for (perhaps they had shrunk in the rain), were fairly intrepid, displaying a bit of “Dunkirk spirit” – especially in the patriotic flag-waving finale. They also queued in an orderly fashion when a flotilla of small boats arrived to take them home and they especially appreciated our guest soloist’s reassurance that “...Britannia Rules the Waves”. Even the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (who had planned to fly-past during the Dambusters’ March) had to cry-off because of the weather, and although we tried for a last minute substitution (a sail-past of the Black Pearl during Pirates of the Caribbean) we were disappointed there too.

Of course the advantage of using the WCO for such events is that we are very, very cheap (in a nice way) – but even so, our £1000 appearance fee did not cover all of the orchestra’s costs (such as hiring music, printing programmes, and buying flippers for the Musical Director). So I was surprised by the promoter’s view of us as reported in the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald recently (see article). Clearly, orchestra and promoter have parted on less than amicable terms as, after more than a year of patiently asking for the money owed and not getting even an agreement about a recovery plan, the WCO decided to resort to the courts system to recover the debt. Let’s be honest, I don’t know of many amateur orchestras that can afford to soak up such a loss. We are lucky we are still afloat. The fact that we are also a registered charity places an additional responsibility on the committee (as trustees) to do everything in our power to recover the debt. So while welcoming the promoter’s promise (made very publicly in the Gazette & Herald) to pay us in full, I am slightly bemused by his assertion that we have become "prima donnas"! (apart from anything else I am decidedly male.) And as the orchestra has been around since 1940, to suggest that his publicity has put WCO on the map is laughable!

Anyway, I note with some sadness that this summer’s Bowood concert series was cancelled due to a lack of pre-event ticket sales, doubtless a reflection on this year’s soggy ‘summer’. Open-air concert promotion is clearly a risky business, so in that, at least, our promoter gets my sympathy!