EOA AGM plus lunch and a concert at Chelmsford Cathedral

The 76th Annual General Meeting of the Essex Organists’ Association took place on Saturday 27th June in the Song School at Chelmsford Cathedral. Dr. Emma Gibbins presented her first report as President, and Dr. Michaela Cottee presented her third report as Treasurer & Membership Secretary. Together, these comprehensive reports showed that the EOA had enjoyed a very busy and successful year. Although the accounts were presented in draft form, as they had not yet been signed off by the Independent Examiner, they showed that efforts to top-up the Christopher Kingsley Memorial Fund during the year had been very successful, that a number of events had either broken even or made a profit, and that the EOA made a surplus in 2025/26, after reporting a deficit in 2024/25.

Before the AGM, some members of the EOA enjoyed lunch together at the Côte Brasserie near to the Cathedral and a performance of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf in the Cathedral, narrated by storyteller Mike Dodsworth with Samuel Bristow (Assistant Director of Music) on the organ. Elections for Committee roles took place as follows:
 Chris Denney was elected as Minutes Secretary for another two years (until June 2028).
 Andrew Stevens was elected as an Ordinary Committee Member for another two years
(until June 2028)
 Fiona Bodmer was elected as an Ordinary Committee Member for two years (until June
2028), having previously been a co-opted member of the Committee.

This means that the EOA Committee for the year 2026-27 is as follows:
President: Dr. Emma Gibbins (until 2027)
Vice-Chairman: Dr. Michaela Cottee (until 2027)
Treasurer & Membership Secretary: Dr. Michaela Cottee (until 2027)
Webmaster: Suzanna Brooks (until 2027)
Minutes Secretary: Chris Denney (until 2028)
Ordinary Committee Members: Lyndon Ford (until 2027)
Jonathan Lilley (until 2027)
Fiona Bodmer (until 2028)
Andrew Stevens (until 2028)