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The Monday meetings start at 11:00 and continue until around 13:00. For this term's schedule, see the Calendar. There is a 30-minute break mid-way for tea and biscuits. The venue - St John the Divine, Outwood Common Road, Billericay, Essex, CM11 2LE - can be found by following this link. There is ample parking. The car park and entrance is shown by following the link above. The statement of 'Our Aims' says - vaguely - that we're 'amateur players of a moderate standard'. Our median exam standard is probably about Grade V, so grades III - VII would definitely fit in, though serious new-comers would be considered. The ambiance is definitely informal, though we try to be serious, get a move on, and leave natter for the break. However, if you're a really serious musician, while you'd be welcome to help us out, you might be better off trying one of the orchestras on the useful links page (no doubt other local orchestras are available). But ..., if (for instance) you played an instrument at school and haven't had the opportunity to play since - and would like to have a go in a setting less forbidding than a full orchestra - then this is your opportunity. We currently have one flute, two clarinets, one oboe, two violins, one cello and a double-bass. While the statement of 'Our Aims' says that 'most' instruments can be accommodated, brass instruments are somewhat problematical as the hall is rather small, and mostly we don't have the parts.
We no longer have a Director, but one or other of our number with most musical experience takes the lead to keep us in order. We are, as they say, "of all ages", though juniors cannot be accommodated unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. Fees depend on numbers but, as we have no director to pay, we just seek to recover the cost of hiring the hall and occasionally purchasing new music. Fees vary between £15 and £30 a term. Our wide repetiore consists of sympathetic arrangements of well-known melodies from Bach to The Beatles. We have given occasional performances by invitation, and in the past have played at a church in Basildon, for a Charitable Trust, at a Country Park Visitors' Centre and at a Regatta. We plan to play at the St John's Thursday lunch sometime in the near future. However, public performance isn't our main aim - which is to get together to play music for its own sake.
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