HarmonicaUK Newsletter - October 2024

Hello and welcome to the HarmonicaUK Autumn newsletter 

HarmonicaUK 2024 Festival 

It is less than a month to our annual festival at Hillscourt in Birmingham (25th to 27th October) and tickets are now all sold out. We are really looking forward to what promises to be a fantastic weekend of listening, playing and sharing music. Artists Will Wilde, Filip Jers, Sean Spicer, and Katie Bradley, and workshop leaders Ricky Cool, John Cook and Adam Glasser will be covering jazz, blues, traditional folk, harmonica maintenance and more, so wherever your interests lie, there will be something for you.  

Saturday Sessions 

Open Mic – Join us Saturday 5th October for our virtual open mic session. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or are just setting off on your harmonica journey, you will be welcome to play, share and listen in a supportive and friendly environment.  

Saturday Session – Traditional Music with Mat Walklate: In this workshop Mat will be focusing on traditional Irish music. The workshop is suitable for diatonic, chromatic and tremolo, so there will be something for everyone. Mat is a fantastic musician with a wealth of experience both playing and teaching traditional music. Not to be missed! 

https://www.matwalklate.uk/

Changes to the Committee – Farewells and Hellos 

There are some changes to the committee that we will be asking you to vote on in our AGM. First of all, after several years of dedication and hard work, our current Chair and Vice Chair, Dave and Suzy Colclough, will be stepping down from the committee at this year’s AGM. Both Dave and Suzy’s contribution to HarmonicaUK over the years has been incalculable. Between them they have covered a diversity of roles including Magazine Editor, Communications Manager, Events Manager and much much more! A huge thank you goes to Dave and Suzy, your work has been hugely appreciated and we wish you all the best for the future. 

Earlier in the year, Richard Taylor, another long standing HarmonicaUK trustee, stepped down from the committee. Thank you, Richard, for the valuable contribution you have made to HarmonicaUK.  

Over the past year, Lee van Crumpton has been co-opted onto the committee as Membership Secretary. We would ask you to vote for Lee to be elected to the committee so he can continue in this role. Welcome aboard Lee! 

Proposed Change to Constitution 

The current HarmonicaUK constitution states that there should be a minimum of 6 committee members. As there are only four people up for election this year, we have made a suggested change to our constitution so that we are not in breach of it. The draft constitution is available with the AGM papers on the AGM website. We would ask for your support voting to make this change to the constitution.  

Notice of Meeting 

The Annual General Meeting of HarmonicaUK (formerly National Harmonica League) will be held at 7pm on Friday 25th October 2024 at Hillscourt, Rose Hill, Rednal, Birmingham B45 8RS. 

AGENDA 

Welcome 

Minutes of the previous AGM and matters arising 

Reports and accounts 

Proposed amendment(s) to the constitution 

(Re)election of committee members: Darren Lampon, Simon Joy, Gene Myers, Lee van Crumpton. 

Member proposed resolutions 

Any other business 

If you are unable to attend the meeting, please appoint the Chair as your proxy by emailing [email protected] before 11th October 2024 or completing the proxy voting form in the link below. 

Papers for the AGM can be found at harmonica.uk/pages/agm-documents and include previous minutes, reports and accounts, draft amendments to the constitution, and brief profiles of existing and proposed committee members.  In addition, there is a proxy voting form and a committee member nomination form. 

There are several committee vacancies so please consider whether you would like to stand yourself or nominate someone to carry out this valuable work.  The main committee meets online about 6 times per annum and you will also be part of a subcommittee.  A minimum commitment of 2 hours per week is expected.  We are also seeking ‘helpers’ so please express an interest if you have expertise in events management, digital technology, graphic design, education, youth work, outreach or administration. 

Contact [email protected] for an informal discussion.  

Simon Joy
Secretary