A Lifetime in Harmony: 75 Years of Music-Making

For our concert celebrating the orchestra’s 75^th anniversary we invited our longest serving member, former chair Mike Jackson, MBE, to share some of his memories.

I joined Sheffield Chamber Orchestra in distant 1957. I had previously played in orchestras at school and university college, but this was a totally different ball game. The orchestra was the creation of the Sheffield University music department, and its principal conductor was Stuart Deas, the Professor of Music.

The Professor, who demanded a very high standard of performance from all the members over a wide range of music, included a 20th century work in each of the regular three concerts performed every season. He was clearly highly regarded, and was able to attract great individual soloists, including pianist Clifford Curzon, violinist Robert Masters, harpist Marisa Robles and members of the Amadeus String Quartet who performed Mozart’s great Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola. He had the engaging habit of conducting the finales of Haydn symphonies at a speed never achieved in rehearsal, a hair-raising edge-of-the-seat experience for yours truly!

When the Lindsay String Quartet first came to Sheffield University we enjoyed, for a while, the enormous privilege of having their players lead the four string sections.

The Chairman was violinist Roger Hayward who held the post for over two decades and played a dominant role in all aspects of the orchestra’s administration. When Roger retired as Chairman in the early 1970s, I was invited to succeed him, a very hard act to follow. Our conductor at the time was Chris Wiltshire who, in addition to being a dedicated conductor, was an accomplished pianist and a serious composer. Highlights were our performance of the Shostakovich 2nd Piano Concerto with Chris as soloist and conductor, and Chris’s own Concerto for Orchestra, which he told us he had composed with a view to testing the abilities of every member to the utmost. It most certainly did!

I enjoyed an excellent relationship with Chris, and ably assisted by our present Chair, Julie Ryan, set about transforming the orchestra into what it has been over the years: an organisation in which our dedicated members assume full responsibility for every aspect of our existence.

We’ve always had outstanding wind players who, in addition to their loyal membership of the orchestra, played concerts as “Mayfield Wind”. We successfully applied for a grant which enabled them to sponsor three works by contemporary composers and perform them as world premieres. One of the criteria for a successful application was the encouragement of young musicians, from which was born our “Accent on Youth” programme with promising local players performing a major concerto. These have been a feature of our programmes right up to the present day.

On the first of these concerts we were to play Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with three pupils from one of the local schools, each playing a movement. As we were playing the overture at our final rehearsal on the afternoon of the concert, I noticed a young lady entering the hall and sitting quietly. I couldn’t wait to approach her to introduce myself as Chairman and to assure her that we were very well prepared, that she could rely on our full support, and that she would enjoy the experience of a lifetime, to which she responded “Actually, I’m the clarinet teacher.”

This wasn’t the only whimsical moment I remember. The young son of a lifelong friend who was learning violin at school and was approaching Grade 1 asked to come to one of our concerts to see his “Uncle Mike” in action. At the interval I went to see him and express the hope that he was enjoying the experience. He asked if he might make a comment and, given the go-ahead, declared, “Uncle Mike, you’re doing it all wrong!” Out of the mouth of babes!

Over the years the financial position of the orchestra, like many amateur music groups, was precarious, and a serious concern, notwithstanding the loyal support of “Friends of the Orchestra” (now known as Patrons). Fortunately, music lover and regular attender at our concerts, Arthur Humphrey, left a generous legacy that provided some welcome financial stability.

Chris was succeeded by Harry Malpass whose musicianship, meticulous attention to detail and highly organised rehearsal schedules brought about an added dimension to our performances.

I was succeeded as Chairman over the years first by our longstanding member Robin Saunders, who in turn many years later was succeeded by Peter Dyke, and finally our present Chair, Julie Ryan. It is a remarkable fact that over the entire 75 years of its existence only five members have held this responsible position.

The orchestra has always enjoyed the loyalty and dedication of its longstanding members but has always welcomed newcomers, as I myself was welcomed all those years ago.

In this personal reminiscence I have inevitably been unable to pay tribute to a whole host of longstanding members and supporters, not least David Ragsdale who was our leader for many years, and Robin McEwan who became our principal conductor when Harry retired, and many other stalwarts.

With Julie as our Chair, Laurence Perkins as our Music Director and Ralph Dawson as our Professional Leader, we can look forward to excellent performances over the years ahead.

Now that I’ve attained the venerable old age of 90 and am in my 68th year as a playing member, the thrill and commitment of our wonderful orchestra continues to inspire. The dedication of our hardworking committee and the loyalty of our members will, I know, continue to offer first rate public performances of a wide range of musical experiences over the years ahead, an experience I hope to continue to enjoy for a while yet.

Mike Jackson, MBE