The Long Road to Zion: 30 years of the Manchester Camerata (Manchester Sounds, volume 4: 2003)

Manchester Camerata embarked on its first full concert season in 1972-3, and so has this year marked 30 years’ existence. Historians of the music of the latter part of the 20th century may well see something more significant in its survival than a mere numerical milestone.

Few English freelance-based chamber orchestras of any significance have thrived outside London. Even those that appear to be sheltered under the wing of a larger organisation can fall victim to the assassin’s knife, as the late, lamented Bournemouth Sinfonietta’s case shows.

The Camerata, though, is still alive, and made modest history when it became the first orchestra of its kind to benefit from the Arts Council’s Lottery-funded “stabilisation” scheme in 2002: a step which proclaimed that here was an organisation too important to lose (the terms of such an award being that 1. the client should be teetering on the edge of insolvency; and 2. that the scheme should save it for the foreseeable future).

This fact argues that Manchester Camerata, 30 years ago an idealistic, risk-heavy project, is today a national institution. A glance at the literature of orchestral policy of the past decade shows signs of its growing significance. The Ritterman Enquiry consultation document of 1994 - the most comprehensive survey at the time of “orchestral provision” in England[1] and one of the first to recognise chamber orchestras as a sector in their own right - pointed to research from the immediate past in which, it is apparent, Manchester and its orchestral situation had played a central part.[2] It also presented statistical evidence for the chamber orchestra sector gathered from six representative organisations, four of them London chamber orchestras, and the others the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and the Manchester Camerata.[3] Such things do not happen by accident, and the Camerata’s status as a leader and representative of its sector here was due very much to one man.

But the Camerata began as the vision of a few. The city had long had a freelance “pool” of players (the Hallé, BBC Northern and Liverpool Philharmonic orchestras all depended on it until the Second World War), and any self-respecting choral society in need of an orchestra could rely on them to provide a “scratch” band for its performances (the Manchester Mozart Orchestra, formed in 1963, was playing for about 30 of these a year when it finally merged with the Camerata in 1980).[4] Pre-Camerata chamber orchestra concerts were organised in the city by Paul Ward, a Hallé cellist (and father of Nicholas Ward, now leader of the Northern Chamber Orchestra and City of London Sinfonia), and conductors included Charles Groves and Norman Del Mar.[5]

The foundation of BBC Radio Manchester, one of the first local radio stations, was however the catalyst for the creation of a concert-giving chamber orchestra with higher ambitions. The decision to form a chamber group under its auspices was taken in July, 1971, and the new Manchester Camerata gave its first concert in April, 1972.[6]

“The orchestra, consisting basically of 23 players, was created to provide public chamber orchestral concerts in Manchester, which had so sadly lacked them[7] . . .” wrote Raphael Gonley, music producer with Radio Manchester, in February, 1973, to Dr Arthur Wolff, who became the first secretary of its Association of Friends. The Camerata was Gonley’s “baby”. By agreement with the Musicians Union, Radio Manchester undertook to employ freelance musicians for a series of five concerts “and thereby help to stimulate the profession outside the regular full-time orchestras.” It was the only local radio station in the country to make such a long-term commitment to an artistic venture.[8]

Frank Cliff was appointed conductor, and Fay Campey leader, and the first season’s concerts were held in the Great Hall of the main building of UMIST in Manchester, promoted in tandem with Radio Manchester’s recital series at the Friends’ Meeting House, Mount Street. Christian Blackshaw was the piano soloist at the first series concert, on September 30, 1972, and Yossi Zivoni the violin soloist at the last, on April 14, 1973.

However, by that time two things had become apparent. One was that there was an immediate interest in the availability of the Camerata for outside engagements; the other that its own concerts in Manchester would lose money - about £400-£450 per concert in that first season.[9]

By January, 1974, Manchester Camerata Ltd (a charity) had been created, a grant received from the North West Arts Association to enable concerts “throughout the North West”, an advisory council set up[10], and an Association of Friends begun.[11] Gonley was now aiming for an eight-month season, and to perform an average of two concerts per week, providing players with two weeks’ work in every month.[12]

He approached the newly-formed Greater Manchester Council, and, not for the last time, the possibility of a “merger” with the Hallé was broached.[13] But by the end of 1974, the Camerata’s identity had been preserved and the GMC had become its main provider, to the tune of £15,000 in a full year (to Radio Manchester’s £3,500).[14] An ambitious series of concerts - originally to be three in every borough in the new Metropolitan County[15] - was planned for 1975-6.

At this point John Whibley, a former Hallé Orchestra cellist, was appointed part-time manager of the Camerata (Raphael Gonley, now on the staff of North West Arts, relinquished his post as Director the following year).[16] Manchester Camerata Ltd from this point had a directorate of three[17], and Szymon Goldberg, after a guest appearance, was appointed Principal Conductor in 1977.

For 1976-7, the Camerata season first took a shape recognisably similar to that of today: eight concerts in Manchester and 14 outside, under GMC borough council auspices. Venues included Peel Hall, Salford; the Princess Rooms, Urmston; the Elizabethan Suite, Bury; the Victoria Hall, Bolton; the Grange Arts Centre, Oldham; Wythenshawe Forum; the Turnpike Gallery, Leigh; Romiley Forum and Stockport Town Hall. There were also two London area appearances by the orchestra (the Fairfield Hall, Croydon, and Brent Town Hall, on September 24 and 25, 1977).

There was also another suggestion of merger with the Hallé - from the music panel of North West Arts, which noted that both the Camerata and the Northern Chamber Orchestra (also freelance-based, Manchester-orientated and regionally-operative) were under-patronised, and, quoting the Peacock Report[18] of 1969 as authority, suggested the formation of a full-time chamber orchestra for the north west, under Hallé administration.[19]

But the idea was not pursued, and under Whibley’s guidance the Camerata found new venues and pioneered new concert styles of its own. In 1977-78 it began performing at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, a connection which continued for 10 seasons, and established a presence at Nantwich in Cheshire, which (with a break from 1981 to 1985) continued for many years. In 1979 it became the resident orchestra for the Buxton Festival’s opera productions, a relationship which continued until 1993, and in 1979-80 a chamber group performed at St Peter’s House (the chaplaincy centre in Manchester University), from which grew the Goldberg Ensemble, a string ensemble formed in 1982 and named after Szymon Goldberg. It was first managed by John Whibley alongside the Camerata, and from 1984 to the present has been an independent ensemble, directed by Malcolm Layfield (Camerata leader 1985-89).

By the end of 1979, a number of important changes had been made. New relationships had been established with Manoug Parikian (appointed music director in January, 1980) and Nicholas Braithwaite (appointed principal guest conductor later that year). BBC Radio Manchester no longer promoted the RNCM concerts, although they were still broadcast[20] - instead, Manchester Camerata itself promoted these and an increasing number of outside concerts, in the north west and beyond. Manchester Camerata Ltd was registered as a charity, while John Whibley Management[21] employed two staff (an assistant manager and a publicity officer) and provided the orchestra of Northern Ballet Theatre (at this time Manchester-based, the arrangement continuing until 1983), as well as orchestral resources for local choral societies.

The North West Arts Board made a block grant (£6,000 in 1979-80), but the GMC’s help now came in the form of guarantee, not grant. The Camerata’s former Advisory Council became a 16-member Policy Committee, whose members included David Ellis of the BBC and Michael Kennedy of The Daily Telegraph.[22]

But increased activity brought increased risks, and by early 1980 it became apparent that Manchester Camerata Ltd’s overdraft facility of £5,000 was in danger of being exceeded,[23] and that there would be a deficit of about that amount on the 1979-80 season alone, to add to the existing, though smaller, accumulated deficit. An audacious plan to hold a “musical marathon”, to dispose of all debts at one go and raise new funds for investment, was devised, with the agreement of the Musicians Union and a target of £30,000. The orchestra would perform for 24 hours on May 22-23, for no pay, and various celebrity figures would take part.[24]

In the event, £9,000 net was raised, but the Marathon Concert was accounted “outstandingly successful as a public relations and advertising exercise”.[25] It also proved a lifeline financially, allowing for more new ideas to be developed.

A Camerata tour to Norway took place, also in May, 1980. Whibley had begun discussions with the Hallé general manager, Clive Smart, on the possibility of a Camerata appearance at the Free Trade Hall in February, 1981, when the Hallé Orchestra would be on tour in Hong Kong. A performance with the Halle Choir was also arranged - Bach’s Mass in B minor was given at the RNCM in March, 1982.[26]

New regional performance opportunities were investigated in Bolton, Oldham and Rochdale (it was a stroke of bad luck that, before the first Bolton concert could be given, the chosen venue, the Town Hall, was badly damaged by fire). North West Arts, however, was to reduce its grant,[27] and - inexplicably as part of a single policy - push for more contemporary music concerts for Manchester:[28] a performance on April 25, 1981, was given with their support and a “money back if you don’t enjoy it” offer to the audience. In the event, attendance figures were described as “disastrous” (although no one asked for their money back).[29]

The Camerata also received an invitation in 1981 to take part in a summer music festival at Rasigueres, in the foothills of the French Pyrenees, on an unusual basis: there would be no fees, but all the musicians would have free board and lodging and enter into every part of the festivities, and their friends could come as holidaymakers.[30] It proved extraordinarily successful[31] and continued as an annual frolic until 1992 (also leading to the Camerata’s being the first British orchestra to visit the Azores, in 1986 - repeated in 1988 and 1990).

Manchester Camerata also decided to join the Association of British Orchestras[32] - a step which, in the light of subsequent history, was highly significant.

And so the orchestra reached its tenth anniversary: with GMC help now of £12,000 per annum[33] and a North West Arts grant of £7,000,[34] but still finding it difficult to make ends meet. An accumulated deficit of nearly £7,000 by 1982[35] (when a tour to Hong Kong took place) was to rise inexorably over the following three years.

In 1983 the baroque specialist conductor Nicholas Kraemer began an association with the Camerata which has continued to this day, and after the departure of Manoug Parikian in 1984, Nicholas Braithwaite was appointed principal conductor, and Sir Charles Groves “president” of the orchestra, a position he held until his death in 1992.[36] (A name change to simply “Camerata”, without the “Manchester” was tried at the same time, but did not last long).[37]

In 1983, Camerata Productions Ltd became temporarily responsible for the activities of the Northern Chamber Orchestra,[38] which was facing financial problems, and as a result a concert series in Crewe and Warrington became available for 1984-5. A major new landmark also appeared: self-promoted Camerata concerts in the Free Trade Hall. January 1, 1984, saw the first of what has become a tradition of annual “Viennese” programmes to welcome the new year.[39]

The hall was booked again for an ambitious concert in the autumn. Given on October 27, 1984, it featured the former prime minister, Edward Heath, as conductor,[40] and Moura Lympany as soloist,[41] and was intended to be the launch-pad for a new appeal: concerts in venues in Greater Manchester were also arranged, with Larry Adler, the harmonica-player, as soloist. Unfortunately none was very successful, and the accumulated deficit grew from £12,000 (1984) to £16,000 in 1985.[42]

At the same time it became apparent that the forthcoming demise of the GMC would seriously disturb the orchestra’s grant income (as it would, to a far larger extent, that of the Hallé in the long term). Already players were being paid late,[43] and the North West Arts grant, though now £17,000, was to be frozen for 1985-86.[44] Fund-raising events such as a Viennese concert in the Free Trade Hall (May 5, 1985) in which the players donated their services, and an auction of musical memorabilia, were held, raising £3,400 between them[45] - but the dying GMC’s “deficit grant” of £16,000[46] finally saved the day[47] (an Easter performance of Handel’s Messiah was given in the Free Trade Hall in 1986, as a mark of thanksgiving, and was repeated each year until 1994).[48]

The Camerata had a continued struggle for existence throughout the remainder of the 1980s, but a pattern evolved which gradually led to stability. There were visits to Portugal in 1986 and Macao in 1988. John Whibley was able to report, in summer, 1987, that 30 per cent of the content of Camerata programmes at the RNCM was 20th century music, and that the Camerata played 30 self-promoted concerts and about 45 engagements every year.[49] In 1989 players were provided with about 100 days’ work per annum.[50]

Most significantly, it was discovered that Free Trade Hall performances could be made to pay. The annual Viennese concert was expanded with a New Year’s Eve programme as well as that on New Year’s Day (from 1985-86),[51] and a popular programme of around six concerts was promoted from that season also.

Figures for the three seasons from 1989-90 to 1991-92 show annual turnover increasing from £341,000 to about £460,000, with small surpluses in two of the three seasons. Grant income was around 15% of the total, earned income grew from 71% to nearly 80%, and corporate income and sponsorship made a significant contribution (it was to be 7% of all income in 1992-93).[52]

Malcolm Layfield became leader of the orchestra in 1985 (he was succeeded by Richard Howarth in 1989), and Janet Hilton, the clarinettist, became a Camerata principal around the same time.[53] She formed the Camerata Wind Soloists, to be known as a highly distinguished group in the late 1980s and early 1990s.[54] Carlo Rizzi, after conducting the Camerata in Donizetti’s Torquato Tasso at the Buxton Festival in 1988,[55] began a close relationship with the orchestra which continued until 1992.

In 1990-91, Manchester Camerata was able to put on eight concerts at the Free Trade Hall, six at the RNCM, eight at Crewe and Nantwich, four in a new series which began that season at Colne, and the first in what was to become an annual visit for an open-air fireworks concert at Cholmondeley Hall, Malpas, in Cheshire, as well as taking part in a multitude of engagements including performances at Beaumaris (the festival), Leeds, Skegness, Dewsbury, Blackpool, Sheffield, Grimsby and Harrogate.

Tragically, Sir Charles Groves suffered a stroke and died while in rehearsal with the orchestra on February 21, 1992.[56] The following September, Nicholas Kraemer was appointed principal conductor and (in 1993) musical director. He introduced an inventively themed approach to programming - “Distant Echoes”, which linked major 20th century works with classics from the past, and enabled an education programme in four centres (Crewe, Colne, Cheshire and Widnes) on the same theme.

John Whibley had joined the board of the Association of British Orchestras in 1991, to represent the chamber orchestras sector. It was a commitment on his part that was to bear fruit in years to come.

The Camerata also proved itself adroit in attracting sponsorship from commercial firms - so much so that it won a special Arts Council of Great Britain grant of £22,500 for 1993-94 - a “first” for a chamber orchestra. By this time, with other grants of £22,000 (from the North West Arts Board), £12,000 from Crewe and Nantwich together with Cheshire County Council, and £15,000 from AGMA (the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities, successor to the GMC in arts funding in the region), it was able to count on over £73,000 (ie about 11%) of unearned income in the year, with turnover of around £644,000.[57]

The staff of Camerata Productions Ltd now consisted of five full-time and five part-time. Audience figures were rising (for which marketing manager Jeremy Hamilton and staff member Patsy Lawler were particularly praised), and visits were arranged to Halle in Germany and Barossa in Austria.[58] The organisation won a “Flying Start” award from Granada TV for its good business practice.[59]

John Whibley remembers 1992 to 1996 as the “halcyon days”. The Free Trade Hall series contained between nine and 12 concerts per season; the RNCM between six and 10; Nantwich, Crewe and Colne yielded another eight; and there was the usual variety of engagements in and outside the north west.

It was not all plain sailing financially. The Arts Council of Great Britain cut back North West Arts’ resources for 1994-95, and a 7% cut to clients was proposed.[60] The results for 1993-94 were not as good as had been expected (a major disaster had been the Cholmondeley fireworks concert, where, with an operatic programme in May, a loss of £25,000 was sustained). By the end of 1994, Jeremy Hamilton, whose post had been paid for by the ACGB “Incentive Funding”, had left.[61]

The season of 1994-95 resulted in an overall loss of £35,000, and a loan of £50,000, interest-free over three years, was negotiated with the Musicians’ Union. The North West Arts Board’s approach seemed curiously irrelevant: it conducted an appraisal which commended the Camerata’s financial controls, at the same time as the Camerata board heard that a large overspend on marketing in 1994-95 had “just come to light” and that covenant, trust and sponsorship income were all less than expected; and, in the light of this financial plight, it called for better conductors and soloists and more new works to be programmed.[62]

But there were encouraging signs for the future. The new Arts Council policy document of 1995[63] committed it for the first time to the support of freelance-based chamber orchestras; the prospect of the new Bridgewater Hall as Manchester’s principal concert venue from 1996 onwards was raising many expectations; the Camerata had formed a link with the BBC Philharmonic to promote Saturday concerts in the new hall;[64] and Sachio Fujioka had been appointed principal conductor (Nicholas Kraemer becoming principal guest conductor).

Finances were eased by the successful reclaim of VAT on three years’ Cholmondeley firework concert income - yielding a total of £40,000[65] - and a grant of £20,000 from the Arts Council,of England towards development in the Bridgewater Hall.[66]

John Whibley, however, brought an end to his era by accepting the post of Artistic and Planning Director for the Hallé: briefly remaining a director of Manchester Camerata Ltd,[67] but finally severing his connection in June, 1997. Chris Knowles, oboist and former chairman of the orchestra committee, became a board member and then general manager in Whibley’s place.[68] He was to leave just over a year later to work for the Raymond Gubbay organisation.[69] Gavin Reid, former principal trumpet, became education officer.[70]

In spring, 1996, shortly before the opening of the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester Camerata took its closest step yet towards joint operation with the Hallé. Marketing, education, finance and corporate development departments were all merged: the Camerata office moved into the Bridgewater Hall.[71]

But this was as close as the two partners ever came to consummation. The Camerata secured a tour of Japan for 1998, pioneered a concert series in Oldham’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and became effectively orchestra-in-residence for the Chester Festival.[72] Lucy Potter, formerly administrator of the Orchestra of St Martin in the Fields, was appointed general manager, and the board decided that the Camerata “had to remain a separate organisation”.[73]

Thus the present status of Manchester Camerata became established. Disengagement from the Hallé became the new agenda;[74] and a “vision statement” was drafted (by Gavin Reid) which said that: “The enduring thing about the Manchester Camerata is its flexibility. It is a wonderfully creative resource capable of fulfilling many roles within the music industry...”[75]

The Musicians’ Union froze its outstanding loan;[76] a bid for education funding under the Arts4Everyone scheme won £54,000;[77] and Lucy Potter devised a three-year plan and a bid for “stabilisation” designed to bring the orchestra’s ambitions for self-promoted events back within realistic limits.[78] When she left in 2002, to be succeeded by Gavin Reid, the process was well under way.

Stabilisation paid off the accumulated deficit of £120,000 (and the Musicians’ Union wrote off total debt of £70,000), and provided extra funds for balancing the books in 2002 and 2003, plus the salary of a full-time development and marketing officer. It also meant a scaling down of activity. The self-promotion of the Cholmondeley fireworks concert was abandoned after a poor year in 2000, coupled with an unsuccessful attempt at repeating the formula at Castle Howard in Yorkshire (it poured with rain, and the event came in £100,000 under budget, according to Potter: the Cholmondeley concert continues, with the Camerata providing the music, but the Camerata no longer promotes it).[79] Bridgewater Hall concerts came down from 10 per season to five in 1999-2000, and are now four. Royal Northern College of Music concerts were reduced to five per season (now four). Regular self-promotions in the Manchester region continue: four in Crewe and three in Colne.

But the appointment of Douglas Boyd as the Camerata’s principal conductor from 2000, after a near-instant, unanimous vote of confidence from the orchestra itself, has resulted in a new atmosphere of optimism. The 2002-03 programme, celebrating 30 years of Camerata concert seasons, has been a chance to celebrate - and in some style.[80] North West Arts and AGMA have both increased their revenue grants substantially.

One of Lucy Potter’s first despatches to the Camerata board, in 1997, began with these words: “1. A map of how to get to Zion ...” It was a reference to the location of the new offices at the Zion Arts Centre (formerly the Zion Institute) in Hulme, Manchester. But as a statement of intent it remains appropriate. The road to salvation may be a long and winding one, but Manchester Camerata, after 30 years, goes marching on.

*************************************************************

Chairmen of Manchester Camerata Ltd:

Raphael Gonley (Director 1972-77)

John Reed (1977-84)

Rhys Davies (1984-92)

Simon Sperryn (1992-93)

Alan Watson (1993-96)

Mike Grindrod (1996-)

Principal conductors of Manchester Camerata:

Frank Cliff (1972-77)

Szymon Goldberg (1977-80)

Manoug Parikian (muic director 1980-84)

Nicholas Braithwaite (1984-90)

Nicholas Kraemer (1992-95; musical director 1993-5)

Sachio Fujioka (1996-2000)

Douglas Boyd (2000-)

Leaders of Manchester Camerata:

Fay Campey (1972-84)

Malcolm Layfield (1985-89)

Richard Howarth (1989-)

General managers of Manchester Camerata:

John Whibley (1975-96)

Chris Knowles (1996-97)

Lucy Potter (1997-2002)

Gavin Reid (2002-)

---

[1] BBC/Arts Council Review of National Orchestral Provision: Consultation Document, October 1994. This document’s factual analysis, it seems to me, has been fundamental to subsequent Arts Council of England policy developments, despite the fact that the Consultation Report which followed (Janet Ritterman: BBC/Arts Council National Review of Orchestral Provision: Report of the Consultation, April, 1995) contained a plethora of competing views and was widely criticised. The Arts Council’s own Strategy for the Support and Development of Orchestras and their Audiences, July 1995, endorsed, among other things, the Northern Orchestral Consortium, formed in 1994, in which the Camerata played a major part, and enunciated a policy of investment in chamber orchestras).

[2] BBC/Arts Council Review of National Orchestral Provision: Consultation Document, October 1994, page 8, referred to Orchestral Concerts Research (Harris Research Centre/ACE, December 1993) - whose focus group of concert attenders was based entirely on a Manchester Camerata audience; Customer Care In The Arts (Millward Brown/ACE, June 1994 - a survey based entirely on Manchester concert venues); and Orchestral Concerts Quantitative Research (Research Surveys of Great Britain/ACE, June 1994) - research into barriers to attendance at classical concerts, based on information from the Hallé, Manchester Camerata, Northern Sinfonia and London Symphony Orchestra).

[3] BBC/Arts Council Review of National Orchestral Provision: Consultation Document, October 1994, pages 33 and 91.

[4] In an article in Classical Music (August 29, 1987) John Whibley was quoted as saying that the Manchester Mozart Orchestra was its "origin" and the name still used for choral society engagements.

[5] This brief account is based on recollections of John Whibley (personal communication).

[6] The dates are taken from a document summarising the orchestra’s history, prepared for members of its newly formed Policy Committee in September, 1979, when the BBC ceased to be the orchestra’s promoter (Camerata archives).

[7] The Hallé Concerts Society had considered the formation of a chamber orchestra from as early as 1965.

[8] Letter February 6, 1973 (Camerata archives)

[9] Letter, Gonley to Wolff, February 6, 1973.

[10] Its first members were Dr Arthur Wolff, Dr Joyce Bourne, Anthony Burton of NWAA, Gerald Larner of The Guardian and John Reed, with John Manduell of the Royal Northern College of Music chairman, later succeeded by John Reed.

[11] Advisory Council minutes, January 24, 1974 (Camerata archives)

[12] Advisory Council minutes, March 7, 1974 (Camerata archives)

[13] Advisory Council minutes, June 13, 1974 (Camerata archives)

[14] Advisory Council minutes, November 26, 1975 (Camerata archives)

[15] John Whibley (personal communication)

[16] Gonley later became manager of the London Sinfonietta.

[17] John Reed, Keith Naismith and Rhys Davies.

[18] Report on Orchestral Resources (1969)

[19] Advisory Council briefing paper, September, 1977 (Camerata archives)

[20] Although this was ended in 1980.

[21] Camerata Productions Ltd (directors John Whibley and Keith Naismith) was created from John Whibley Management, to operate from April, 1981, responsible for Manchester Camerata and [pro tem] the Northern Ballet Orchestra, with John Whibley and two others as employees: Policy Committee, November 18, 1980 (Camerata Archives)

[22] Policy Committee, September 11, 1979 (Camerata Archives)

[23] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, February 19, 1980 (Camerata Archives)

[24] Policy Committee, February 26, 1980 (Camerata Archives)

[25] Policy Committee, March 26, 1981 (Camerata Archives)

[26] Policy Committee, November 25, 1981 (Camerata Archives)

[27] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, September 21, 1981 (Camerata Archives)

[28] Policy Committee, November 18, 1980 (Camerata Archives)

[29] Policy Committee, November 25, 1981 (Camerata Archives)

[30] As John Whibley tells it, the sequence of events was as follows: Moura Lympany visited the Camerata in Manchester to play a concerto, and at the party afterwards was talking about her new house in Rasigueres. "She said she was going to have a festival and ‘You must all come’. Then she phoned up a bit later, said she’d spoken to the mayor and so on, it was all going ahead and ‘See you there!’"

[31] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, September 21, 1981 (Camerata Archives)

[32] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, December 16, 1981 (Camerata Archives)

[33] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, September 14, 1983 (Camerata Archives)

[34] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, January 12, 1982 (Camerata Archives)

[35] Policy Committee, November 19, 1982 (Camerata Archives)

[36] Similar to the Hallé Concert Society’s procedure in 1934, when Beecham was made "president" (a non-constitutional position), in succession to Elgar, and became in effect principal guest conductor.

[37] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, January 17, 1984 (Camerata Archives)

[38] Policy Committee, May 24, 1983 (Camerata Archives)

[39] The event took the Camerata’s mailing list from 700 to 5,000 at a stroke - "Who calls the financial tune?", Manchester Evening News, July 27, 1989.

[40] The Manchester Evening News review found a distinguished historical parallel: "Gladstone felled trees. Edward Heath conducted ... a solid and worthy account of movements from the Water Music ..."

[41] The same review hailed "this extraordinary lady" for "a performance of superb style, beauty and unfailing enjoyment".

[42] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, October 3, 1985 (Camerata Archives)

[43] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, January 25, 1985 (Camerata Archives)

[44] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, March 8, 1985 (Camerata Archives)

[45] Manchester Camerata Ltd directors’ meeting, May 14 and June 18, 1985 (Camerata Archives)

[46] Policy Committee, December 17, 1985 (Camerata Archives)

[47] As, indeed, a similar and much larger grant did for the Hallé at the same time.

[48] Policy Committee, December 17, 1985 (Camerata Archives)

[49] "Musical Britain: Manchester",Classical Music, August 29, 1987.

[50] "Manchester rovers",Classical Music, May 20, 1989.

[51] Perhaps the highspot of all these was that of 1993, when Rosalind Plowright, Dennis O’Neill and Willard White brought the curtain up on Manchester’s year as City Of Drama 1994, although the first Bridgewater Hall New Year, with Susan Bullock, Andrew Shore, Bonaventura Bottone and Willard White, was another magnificent occasion.

[52] John Whibley, personal communication.

[53] She remained with the Camerata until 1998, when she was appointed head of woodwind at the Royal College of Music in London.

[54] Her performances of Mozart’s clarinet concerto and clarinet quintet were among the most magical I have heard. The following was the impression of the quintet slow movement in 1993: "Just now and then in music-making, there is one of those moments when people forget to cough, stop rustling their programmes and hardly dare breathe lest they break the spell. It happened on Saturday ..."

[55] His first appearance in this country, which moved the Times critic to say: "He made the Manchester Camerata sound better than I have ever heard them."

[56] He was preparing a performance of the Schumann cello concerto with Steven Isserlis as soloist.

[57] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, March 17, 1993 (Camerata archives)

[58] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, July 27, 1993 (Camerata archives)

[59] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, January 17, 1994 (Camerata archives)

[60] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, January 17, 1994 (Camerata archives)

[61] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, July 18 and October 17, 1994 (Camerata archives)

[62] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, March 20, 1995 (Camerata archives)

[63] Strategy for the Support and Development of Orchestras and their Audiences, Arts Council, July 1995.

[64] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, September 12, 1995 (Camerata archives)

[65] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, October 23, 1995 and March 11, 1996 (Camerata archives)

[66] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, February 5, 1996 (Camerata archives)

[67] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, February 5, 1996 (Camerata archives)

[68] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, May 7, 1996 (Camerata archives)

[69] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, March 10, 1997 (Camerata archives): the resignation took effect on May 31.

[70] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, September 9, 1996 (Camerata archives)

[71] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, April 3, July 15, and September 9, 1996 (Camerata archives). The move drew criticism from the BBC’s head of music, Trevor Green, who cancelled a planned press launch of the joint BBC Philharmonic/Manchester Camerata 1996-97 season in the Bridgewater Hall, complaining of being "gazumped" ("Manchester orchestras locked in merger battle", Classical Music, May 11, 1996).

[72] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, March 10, 1997 (Camerata archives)

[73] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, June 2 and July 14, 1997 (Camerata archives)

[74] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, November 3, 1997 (Camerata archives)

[75] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, July 14, 1997 (Camerata archives)

[76] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, March 24, 1998 (Camerata archives)

[77] Piloted by Gavin Reid - Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, September 23, 1998 (Camerata archives)

[78] Manchester Camerata Ltd board minutes, November 2, 1998 and January 25, 1999 (Camerata archives)

[79] "Stable mates", Classical Music, August 17, 2002.

[80] Concerts with Douglas Boyd have included a masterly Eroica symphony, and with Nicholas Kraemer a memorable Bach B minor Mass.