At a well-attended general meeting of the association on 10 October, it was decided to change the name of the association to Venneforeningen for DRs Kor og Orkestre. Instead of the long, old name, which is hard to say and even harder to remember.
However, the name change is not just linguistic ”cosmetics”. Behind the decision is the desire to expand the association's base to include all of DR's choirs and orchestras. In practice, this is particularly the case for DR PigeKoret and DR Big Band. The background is that after the closure of the DR Entertainment Orchestra, the remaining ensembles will perform across DR's programmes as well as at concerts in DR Byen and around the country. The proposal was unanimously approved. The decision will undoubtedly mean an increase in membership, but also increased opportunities for offers to members.
In his report, Mogens Rubinstein, chairman of the association, emphasised that, in addition to offering members a number of favourable unique offers, the association is aiming for an even stronger connection between the association and its 2600 members, primarily through a new, modern and active website, which you have just accessed. Initially, a traditional email will be sent out when there is news on the site, but the idea is to make the site - as it is called - so attractive that it becomes natural to visit it frequently.
In addition, the Friends must live up to its name, with members acting as ambassadors for the ensembles and, through membership fees, enabling support in the form of donations (read about the new bells here) and to provide direct grants to some of the ensembles' talented artists.
The report showed that the opportunity to attend dress rehearsals for some of the symphony orchestra's concerts and full rehearsals for other concerts in both the orchestra and the choir appeals to the members. Well over half of the members faithfully turn up when the doors open for rehearsals for that week's concert. For a modest administration fee, up to 1,337 members are given access to witness all or part of the rehearsals for the concerts. Not the finished result, but a unique look into the ”engine room” of the ensembles.
The many members make it possible to maintain a high level of activity, but this also means that the finances must be well organised. The association has recently professionalised this work by, among other things, engaging an accounting firm that will guarantee that everything is done correctly.
The membership fee hasn't been increased in the past five years, but new expenses have been added to the activities. So instead of raising ticket prices or drip-fee increases year after year, the board proposed an adjustment that could last for a while. The assembly agreed.
The board was re-elected and is presented elsewhere, However, several contributions emphasised the desire for female candidates for the board.
There were also several calls to create more calm and less coughing during the concerts, possibly by handing out lozenges or similar, as is the case in several concert halls around the world. It was also suggested to create waiting lists for the rehearsals, so that those who are rejected get the chance to attend the rehearsals when there are cancellations among those who originally signed up. The board promised to investigate the possibilities.
The general meeting, which took place in the foyer of the Koncerthuset, began by remembering the Friends' chairman, Lars Grunth, who died at the end of last year, and his great efforts for the greatly increased membership and activity level.
After the formal general assembly, this year's awards were presented to three members of the ensembles.
The Friends awarded three artists with this year's scholarships at the general meeting. However, there were five on stage to receive them, as the two recipients from the symphony orchestra were both pregnant.
The prize winners were bass singer in the DR VokalEnsemblet, Torsten Nielsen, 1st solo 2nd violin Teresa Krahnert and 2nd solo 2nd violin Gunvor Sihm from the DR Symphony Orchestra. The two violinists shared one of the two prizes, each worth DKK 20,000.
All three responded to great applause with song and music respectively, immortalised here by Jakob Helmer Mørck.
It was the chairman of the VocalEnsemblet and board member of Venneforeningen, Emil Lykke, who presented the award to Torsten Nielsen and described the award winner as a man of many talents. In addition to the VocalEnsemble, he conducts several choirs, teaches music and singing at Sankt Annæ Gymnasium, performs as a soloist all over the country, and is a church singer at Trinitatis Church. Emil Lykke also praised Torsten Nielsen for his infectious humour, which made rehearsals of even the most difficult and modern pieces run smoothly, and called the award-winning bass singer a true ”closet tenor”. The definition of a closet tenor is someone who has both the high notes and ”the tenor sound most people want to hear”. And, as tenor Emil Lykke put it:
Torsten Nielsen thanked for the award and, accompanied by Mette Christensen, sang three songs by Carl Nielsen: I Serraillets Have and Genrebillede with lyrics by J.P Jacobsen and Erindringens Sø, which Ludvig Holstein wrote the lyrics to.
Solo timpanist and member of the Friends' Board of Directors, René Mathiesen motivated the second award to Teresa Krahnert and Gunvor Sihm by telling the true story of the penguins from San Francisco Zoo in 2003.
For years, the residents of the penguin rookery had been doing what they thought was the meaning of their lives: swimming, eating, lounging and resting, and then repeating it at a leisurely pace day after day. Then one day, two new penguins from Ohio moved in. They immediately jumped into the basin and swam and swam all day long. And repeated it day after day. They didn't scream or try to take the old residents with them, the zookeepers noticed. At dusk, they staggered to shore totally exhausted. With their behaviour, the new penguins made the old ones abandon their relaxed lifestyle.
René Mathiesen continued: ”The recipients of this year's Friendship Scholarship are the two penguins on the first desk in the Symphony Orchestra's 2nd violin group.”.
The two gave a joint acceptance speech, where Gunvor Sihm in particular expressed her amazement at having been selected after only a short time in the orchestra. After which they played together and up to each other with Sergei Prokofiev's cheerful little Sonata for two violins, 2nd movement.