Big Band Representative
Penelope Tollervey
Hi, I’m Penelope! I’m a first year Maths student and I’m running for Big Band Representative. I play the Trumpet, Violin and Piano. I’ve loved taking part in the Big Band, Brass Band and Choir and the socials since the lockdown has eased!
Before coming to Lancaster University I was a very active member of 7 music groups run at my school, including the school’s Jazz orchestra and a smaller Sixth form Jazz group. I also played in the Northamptonshire County Youth Orchestra and County Youth Concert Band for several years. Being a member of my school’s Jazz Orchestra for 6 years has given me the skills I believe would make me a good big band rep. It exposed me to a very wide range of big band repertoire and gave me the opportunity to write music. We performed my composition on the MFY new music stage in Birmingham. Playing in so many music groups allowed me to build my time management and organisation skills. In addition I also played in my local Brass Band Towcester Studio Band where I am the youth representative on the committee. This has given me experience of being on a committee and I really enjoy it!
Thank you for taking the time to read my bio.
Brass Band Representative
Joely Mosses and Robert Davidson (running as a pair)
Hi, I’m Robert, and I’m a first year Environmental Science student. I’m currently playing cornet in Brass band and trumpet in Big band. I have played the trumpet since I was 7 and also picked up the cornet along the way. In that time I’ve had lots of experience playing in my local jazz band, concert band and brass group, including helping set up for rehearsals and concerts. As a Brass rep I would be committed to keeping the band engaging and fun for everyone. I enjoyed taking part in the online Christmas concert with Brass band in the first term and it’s been great to finally be able to get stuck in with rehearsals this term! ULMS has been a very welcoming society, and in the short time we’ve been able to meet in person I have already made new friends and had some great experiences in rehearsals and socials. I would love to become one of your new brass reps along with Joely and give back to the band as we finally return to normality!
I’m Joely and I’m a first year Religious studies and Sociology student. I play cornet and trumpet in brass band and big band. I have been playing cornet for 10 years and have been involved in brass banding since I first started playing. I’m from York where I was part of the Shepherd Group Brass band. I was In the Youth band, concert band and also attended a big band so banding has always been an important part of my life. I believe that my brass band background has helped me to understand the ways brass bands run and will help me think of ways to improve the band. I have thoroughly enjoyed being able to return to band this year even though it has only been for a short amount of time and am looking forward to what is to come. I think that Robert and I will be able to work well as a team and that it will be beneficial for us to be joint representatives since we haven’t had the full experience of the ULMs yet.
As a pair we will be able to make the return to full rehearsals next October as smooth as possible, and when it comes to the busy times of organising the Christmas concert, Unibrass and Whit Friday, working as a team will make the task much more manageable! We hope you will be happy to pick us as your Brass band reps for 2021/22.
Choir Representative
Sam Copner
Hi, I’m Sam, a third-year maths student on an integrated masters and I am running for choir rep. I have a lot of experience both singing and conducting choirs, mainly in the last 5 years, and have been on other execs/committees so already know roughly how to operate as a member of a committee. Specifically I have been a president so know how to delegate well enough and know the amount of communication that is needed in order to keep things in loop, and I have been a treasurer so know how to keep in line with a budget.
I have loved being a part of ulms this year despite everything being a little up in the air, and I’ve been filling the role of choir rep for third term and have been enjoying it so far, so would love to be officially elected to continue the role for next year.
Orchestra Representative
Elspeth Lewis
Hi everyone, I’m Elspeth Lewis and I’m a first year Modern Foreign Languages student studying French, German and Chinese. I would like to apply for the role of Orchestra Rep as, although I joined a little later in the year due to covid, I have been welcomed with open arms and would now like to be a more major part of the community. I play violin in both orchestra and strings and also play the piano, both of which I’ve done from a young age. I have played in groups of all sizes, including running my own string quartet and helping to run larger orchestras before I joined university, giving me a good sense of the ins and outs of how they work and people skills when problems arise.
With my degree and previous experience in Air Cadets and Ballroom/Latin dance, I’m very open minded and take other people’s opinions into consideration yet am a strong leader with good organisational skills which would transfer well into this role. I’m easy going, get on with everyone and am always up for a laugh but can be serious when the time calls for it, hopefully making me capable of leading the orchestra to new heights as well as making it an enjoyable ensemble to be a part of and to play in!
Publicity Officer
Beth Cook
Hello! I’m Beth, a second-year English Language student. I play the flute in the Wind Band and the Flute Choir. I’m running for Publicity Officer having already spent a year in the role so I know exactly what my responsibilities are, even if I didn’t get to do all of them last year. I really enjoyed the work I did over the past year, especially designing event posters and working with the rest of Committee – and I even got to learn some new skills that I wouldn’t know otherwise, such as working with YouTube.
I ran to be Publicity Officer last year because I wanted to get to know and work with the society as a whole, and I’d really love the opportunity to have a normal year in the role – or whatever normal is in September! That includes publicising the society at the Freshers’ fair and distributing flyers and programmes for in-person as well as online events. If I can, I’d like to put some of the ideas I had for my time in the role this year into practice next year, such as potential social media coverage of tour, masterclasses and other aspects of society life. I also know that there may be some uncertainty about what kinds of events we can and can’t hold depending on the situation next year, and I’ll be happy to promote the society in any way I can – and if anyone has any ideas about how we could do this, I’ll be all ears. Thank you!