Dear Players and Parents

As promised, I am writing a further Newsletter to bring you up-to-date with the current situation about MYMS.

How are you?

The first important question is to ask how are you?  I hope that you are surviving the constraints of the lockdown and are steering clear of the dangers of the coronavirus.

Missing you all….

For us, the greatest musical sadness of the lockdown is that it has prevented us from continuing with our own music-making and growing our friendships.  The most immediate – and obvious – consequences of that is that we will have to cancel our end-of-term concert on Friday 26 June 2020 and the proposed Bandstand Concert on Sunday 28 June 2020.

The major sadness that is linked to that is that we won’t have the opportunity at either of those concerts to celebrate the contributions to MYMS of all our Year 13 players and singers.  We therefore send our very best wishes for their musical and academic futures to:

Emily Baker, Finn Barker-Flower, Sophie Bengtsson-Wheeler, Lucy Dowd, Phoebe Frewer, Molly Green, Christopher Hadaway, Dominic Hodgson, Elise McGovern, Ed Mead, Eleanor Newman, Anjali Parmar, Ella Pevy, Jenny Protheroe, Brendan Pyke, Ash Savage, Phoebe Wells, Max Williamson and Adam Zadi

We thank you for everything you have given to MYMS over many years.  We shall miss all of you….

Tuck Shop – Gift to Maidstone Hospital

I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to know that – on your behalf – MYMS has this week donated the remaining sweets from our Tuck Shop to the staff in the Accident & Emergency Department at Maidstone Hospital.  This is a photo of their appreciation…..

MYMS Cancelled Visit to Royal Albert Hall

MYMS has now received the refund from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of the ticket costs for the concert at the Royal Albert Hall and the payments back to the sixteen families concerned will take place in the next few days.

Our Future

Surveys – One of the strengths of MYMS which has helped us to continue for 46 years is that we have been able to review what we offer musically and to respond to changes in demand.  With that in mind, we have been drafting and trialling two surveys, to which we are inviting you each to respond.  There is a parent survey and a student survey.  Please find the links below and we hope you will be able to find the time to complete them.  For some of our younger students, they may need some parental input to navigate their way through but we will appreciate your responses – which will be anonymous and then collated together.

Parent survey:  [sent to parents]

Student survey:  [sent to student players]

The outcomes will be considered by the MYMS Committee and Trustees and they will help us to plan the future of MYMS.

Calendar and Concert Dates – It is impossible at the moment to predict accurately when MYMS will be able to restart.  Much depends (a) on the government’s plans for the full re-opening of primary and secondary schools and (b) parents’ decisions about whether they send their children to school.  Extra-curricular activities like MYMS may take a little longer to be re-established.

However, we do have to plan our calendar in advance, in part so that we mesh in with Invicta Grammar School’s schedule.  I have therefore concluded a draft MYMS Calendar for 2020-2021 and am attaching a copy of that for your information.  Please make a note of the four potential concert dates:

• Friday 4 December 2020 – 7:30 pm – Winter Concert and AGM;
• Friday 26 February 2021 – 6:00 pm – Music at Night Students’ Concert;
• Friday 26 March 2021 – 7:30 pm – Spring Concert;
• Friday 25 June 2021 – 7:30 pm – Summer Concert and 2nd General Meeting.

MYMS Manager and Music Director – As mentioned in my previous Newsletter, I have agreed with the MYMS Trustees to roll my retirement date on until we are in a better position to appoint my successor.  Therefore, for the time being, please continue to correspond with me if you have any MYMS matters to raise.

‘Virtual’ Ensembles – The Trustees have discussed whether we would attempt to set up any ‘virtual’ ensembles at the moment and, in the light of the number of ensembles we have and advice on the technical challenges involved, we have decided against that option.

A possible MYMS Family Quiz – Again, this suggestion has been flagged up as a possible way of keeping us in contact with each other.  It will be discussed further at a ‘Zoom’ MYMS Committee meeting on 17 June 2020 and I will write to you again after that.

PLEASE:

• send your survey responses back [at your earliest convenience; ideally before the Committee Meeting on 17 June];
• put the concert dates in your diaries; and
• have a look at the photo of the A&E Staff at Maidstone Hospital.

All best wishes

Richard, MYMS Manager