President
Louise Frankland
Hi, for anyone who doesn’t know me, I am a third year studying Theoretical Physic with Maths, I have been involved in ULMS since the first week of my first year and have been on the committee for two years, first as Social Secretary and currently as Secretary. I am part of wind band and attempt to conduct Swing band as well as being a part of a couple of small groups, including leading sax choir. All of this has given me a good overview of how the society runs and I believe this makes me a good candidate for President, specifically having worked closely with James all year in my current role.
Obviously, we do not know what will happen in the next year, however I am hopeful that we will be able to resume in person rehearsals either next term or in October at the latest. I will do everything I can, building on the work that James has already done in order to try and get rehearsals back as soon as we possibly can safely, and to try and restart the annual schedule of concerts that ULMS used to have, again when it is safe to. Assuming it is possible, I would like to organise a Alumni concert when concerts are able to happen, whether that is at Christmas or starting the organisation for a Easter/summer concert next year, to allow all ULMS members who have not been able to have their last ULMS concert due to the corona virus to have a final concert. If I am to be elected to be president this would also mean I am part of the welfare team again this year, especially at the moment I think it will be very valuable to have some continuity within welfare.
I am not expecting the following year to be easy and am sure there will be many challenges along the way, but I hope I have the enthusiasm to get the society back to rehearsing and enjoying making music which is what why we all joined ULMS.
Secretary
George Allin
Hi Everyone! I’m George Allin, I’m a religious studies student, and this is my third year in ULMS. Within ULMS I am part of the Choir and the String Orchestra, and I am also in the Chamber Choir small group. These are all groups that I have absolutely loved being a part of and have really enjoyed.
In my first year I was on Committee as Choir Rep, this not only helped me learn about the other areas of the society, but helped my hone my organisational skills, often needing to juggle multiple last-minute room changes and bookings. As Choir Rep I also helped establish the Choirs Concert; cataloguing the choir music to help make finding pieces easier, contacting the venue to arrange the performance space, and liaising with conductors and other members of committee to arrange groups to perform.
This previous year I have been one of the Social Secretaries, which has obviously been very different to how I imagined it would be but has provided its own skills. Realising socials would no longer be able to take place as we expect required taking initiative in creating the Discord sever and reimagining socials in new ways. It has also provided the opportunity to see committee running both with and without the pandemic, which I believe would be very advantageous in the coming year.
More specifically to the role of secretary, I have previously held the role of General Secretary for the Religious Studies Society (There are dozens of us!), which while on a different scale has provided me with experience of many of the tasks of Secretary, including room bookings, communicating with LUSU, and the all-important minute taking.
I am aware that the role of Secretary also comes with the likely role of welfare officer. While this isn’t a role that I have direct experience with it is one that I view with great respect and importance. I have always made an effort to be a friendly, approachable face across the society, and as Social Secretary this past year have continued to get to know people from all ensembles and years.
It has been great being able to be an active part of the society in my past two years and I would love to be able to continue this in the role of Secretary. I look forward to answering any questions in the AGM!
Treasurer
Amaia Imaz Blanco
Hello, my name is Amaia Imaz Blanco, and I am running to be your treasurer this year (second time lucky I hope!). I’m a third year studying Astrophysics, that has been playing the violin for 13 years and is now in String Orchestra and Orchestra. For the past year, I have been the string orchestra representative, throughout a difficult year for committee and for the world in general. The year before had the honour of being social secretary together with Louise.
I believe I am suited for the role of treasurer of ULMS for a variety of reasons, beginning with the fact that I do a very maths focused degree, hence I am good with numbers and am a competent user of spreadsheets (Excel, google sheets etc), something absolutely essential for a treasurer. I am also weirdly proud of my automated budgeting spreadsheets for my own finances and would enjoy working with the ULMS ones. Furthermore, being on the handball club Exec for 2019-2020 as well as the last year, where the jobs are very much shared and we all handle various responsibilities, I have learnt how to work with LUSU in terms of money and how to budget for a society, something that will be very useful if you elect me as your treasurer.
Furthermore, my experience being previously on ULMS committee is invaluable towards understanding the ins and outs of how the society works and what the responsibility of treasurer entails, meaning that I’m prepared for what’s to come and understand my responsibilities. There are also many reasons why I want to do this job, over the past two years, ULMS has been a place where I feel at home and where I know I will enjoy myself, and I think a big part of it is due to being on committee and the close relations that I’ve been able to form because of it. I think dealing with the finances of anything is really interesting, but I think that I would especially enjoy it for ULMS as buying and maintaining music-related items is something that sparks my interest. As much as I am a string player and always looking for string and orchestra to do well, I aim to be fair, budget consistently for all ensembles and hopefully bring some fresh ideas for things ULMS might benefit from investing in. Overall, I hope you consider me as your treasurer and have enough faith that I would do a good job to vote for me.
Overall, I work hard and I’m passionate, and try to be a kind and friendly person to everyone in the society and hope to make the sometimes somewhat taboo topic of money a more approachable topic within the society.
Big Band Representative
Hannah Bayliss
I’m Hannah, a History student and woodwind player who’s been involved in ULMS for the last three years, although sadly I will be graduating this summer. If this sounds familiar it’s because I’ve been Big Band Rep twice already! I’m one of the current swing band conductors as well as having previous involvement as rep, and as such I have a lot of past experience that will allow me to work on a set list with the conductors.
I hope that people who know me would say I am friendly and approachable, I would like members of the band to be able to talk to me about their ideas or concerns regarding repertoire or the organisation of the ensemble. I aim to be organised and efficient with regards to planning gigs and running rehearsals, in particular, my goal is to finally organise the mountain of music in the cupboard!
Having played in and been rep for Big Band, I understand the running of the ensemble. I hope to be able to work with the conductors and players to overcome any issues and ensure playing in the band is an enjoyable experience for everyone.
Brass Band Representative
No Nominations.
Choir Representative
No Nominations.
Orchestra Representative
No Nominations.
String Orchestra Representative
Georgia McRedmond
Hi everyone, I’m Georgia, a second year studying Psychology and Linguistics and I would love to be your string orchestra rep this year. I’ve been a member of the string orchestra for the past two years and since freshers week have found it a very welcoming and inclusive place in which everyone can enjoy playing music. I wanted to run as string orchestra rep so that I could maintain this atmosphere that reps in the past have created and also so that I could become more involved with the inner workings of the society. Before coming to Lancaster, I spent two years writing arrangements and organising rehearsals for a choir that performed and competed in my local area. This experience gave me invaluable organisational skills in ensuring practices run smoothly, sticking to a rehearsal schedule that ensured we were ready to perform while making sure that everyone enjoyed rehearsal. I also have played in various orchestras over the years including the National Youth Orchestra in Ireland. Through this I have been introduced to a wide variety of repertoire of which I believe will be useful in bringing new and exciting pieces to string orchestra. I hope that as string rep I could continue making rehearsals enjoyable for all and put on some great performances.
Swing Group Representative
Robert Moffatt
Hello, I’m Robert and I’m running to be Swing Band Representative. I’m a first year Geography student. Although I haven’t had anywhere near a proper ULMS experience so far, I have enjoyed doing virtual recordings for Swing Group, Big Band, Sax Choir and Wind Band as well as attending many online socials. I believe I’d make a good rep for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I have played both saxophone and clarinet for over five years and therefore have a good understanding of the limitations and the qualities of both instruments, this will be beneficial when choosing and creating arrangements. Secondly, I have a good understanding of swing and big band repertoire. I have been a member of the Lancashire Schools and Lancashire Youth Jazz Orchestra for four years and been in school bands since year 8. Lastly, I am organized, friendly and have good communication skills. This would be beneficial when liaising with the conductor and the ensemble members and ensuring the smooth running of the band. I realise I have lots to learn, but I am happy to put in extra time to understand the role and would look forward to continuing the smooth running of Swing Group throughout the pandemic and beyond!
Wind Band Representative
Caitlin Rees
Hi, I’m Caitlin. I’m currently a second year geographer and I play the flute and piano. I’ve been the wind band representative for the last year, and although very much limited by covid, I’ve enjoyed my time in the role and would like to continue with it. I’ve played in ensembles since primary school, so I’m definitely used to the chaos that organising a 60+ strong band brings. I was a musical director for our Sixth Form show, so I fully understand what the role entails in terms of organisation, time and comradery. I’m really hoping to be able to properly rehearse sometime in the near future, but I will continue to listen to what the band would like to do given covid restrictions.
Small Groups Representative
Yasmin Bascal
Hi, I’m Yasmin and I’m a first year Fine Art student. You may have seen me in some of the discord socials however if you haven’t, I play clarinet and saxophone. While it’s been an unusual introduction to uni life this year, and I’ve not had the chance to have a ‘proper’ ULMS experience, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed attending virtual socials and recording parts for the virtual Christmas concert. I really appreciated the warm welcome I received from all the ULMS members I’ve spoken to, as it has really helped me settle into uni life, especially at a time when it’s so tricky to get to know people outside of your household. So far I’ve been involved in Wind Band and saxophone choir however I am eager to join more ensembles, particularly some of the other small groups. Although the current situation with the pandemic is not ideal, I’m really excited to get more involved in the society and being on the committee would be an excellent opportunity to do so.
Holding roles of responsibility as a volunteer with Girlguiding for the last five years and as head girl at school, I have lots of experience with staying organised and communicating with others. Holding such roles of responsibility has also given me experience dealing with budgeting which would no doubt be a useful skill to have in this role, helping manage funding to all the small groups.
Having set up and taken part in numerous small ensembles through school and my county wind band, I really enjoy the unique experience of playing music with a small group of peers. Like many of you I’m sure, one of the things I’ve missed the most throughout lockdown has been playing music with others. I’d love to take on the role of small groups rep to support the continuation of small groups through the current situation. I think it’s really important to keep music going through lockdown and small ensembles are a brilliant way to do so. I do however understand that virtual performances aren’t quite the same as rehearsing and playing in real life so, while it’s near impossible to know where this year will take us, as small groups rep I would make the most of any opportunities to organise rehearse and perform in person as soon as it’s possible.
Publicity Officer
No Nominations.
Social Secretary
Isha Robbie and James Cheam-Smith
Hi! We are Isha Robbie (she/her), a second year natural sciences student, and James Cheam-Smith (he/him), a first year German and Italian student. We would like to be the next ULMS social secretaries. We are both keen musicians, and once things are back up and running you will be able to find both of us in choir. Additionally, Isha is a part of wind, big and swing and James hopes to help set up a classical guitar small group. We think that socials are a big part of ULMS, as they bring all the ensembles together at least once a week. Particularly in lockdown, they have played a big role in keeping the society in existence. As social secs, we hope to keep the online socials going weekly until we are able to run them in real life again. Some ideas we have for new online socials are, a cooking night, murder mystery night and colouring night. We hope to then be able to get back to the traditional real-life socials, such as the rounders game or the Christmas carolling bar crawl. However, if this is not possible we will do our best to translate these traditions into virtual events. As Isha has already been Social Sec for a year, she is well-versed in running the online socials and how all the tech works. Additionally to this, James will bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to the role. We think that this combination of experience and innovation makes us an ideal pair to keep socials running as we come out of the pandemic. Thank you for reading, see you at the virtual AGM! Isha and James
Project Teach Music Coordinator
Nia Evans
Hi, I’m Nia, a first year Biomedicine student who joined ULMS in September and I am running to be your project teach music coordinator this year. I play the French horn in the wind band and orchestra (virtually at the moment of course) and have really enjoyed meeting people at ULMS socials.
As many of you will agree, having music as part of your life whether through formal lessons, teaching yourself or just a passion is so valuable and fills us with so much joy. Throughout school I have enjoyed lessons for both horn and piano and teachers have encouraged me to join many ensembles which I have loved! However, I believe that the grass roots teaching is equally important as playing with others and if elected I would be very happy to work with the committee and students to continue the current work.
Having spoken to Emily, the current PTM coordinator, I believe that I would be able to successfully fulfil the role. I have had experience coordinating peers as the chair of Rotary Interact at school and I am an organised, reliable and approachable person.
I would love to get involved in ULMS more by running for PTM coordinator and continuing the excellent work done so far by providing a music education and experience for others.