Dear ERSO members

As you may be aware, we will be allowed to return to live rehearsals after May 17th, and we plan to start on Saturday May 22nd with the same social distancing procures in place as we had last autumn.  As we wanted to fit in a short string sectional prior to the rehearsals starting, we have agreed that this will take place on Zoom on Sunday May 16th.

Our June 20th concert will take place as part of the Waterloo Festival, with limits on audience capacity and social distancing rules in place.  We’ve decided to make the concert shorter so that we do not need an interval as this helps to avoid mingling of household groups.  We will also host a short Open Event the week before the concert.  It will be a free event open to the local community and Chris will talk about Beethoven 8 and what makes it so special, using well chosen musical examples.

Find the latest detail on timings by following this link: Schedule

For the meantime, the school are not able to accommodate any bookings from groups on Sundays and so we have been offered Saturday afternoon rehearsals instead.   We plan to get back to Sunday rehearsals as soon as the school allow this to happen.

We will be following the same risk management processes as we did before Xmas: Risk management at ERSO.  These processes are for the protection of all of our members and their families and should help to minimise risks – it is essential that all players read and follow these procedures.

What to bring:

  • Each player must bring their own stand and pencil – sharing will not be possible.
  • Your own music – links will be provided. We will send copies to anyone who has not got access to a printer).
  • Face covering/mask
  • Completed Covid-19 questionnaire either on paper or electronic version which must be completed on the day of each rehearsal/concert and emailed to ersoinfo@gmail.com or brought on the day. ERSO Questionnaire for Covid-secure rehearsal
  • Own refreshments
  • Wind and brass: a means of safely disposing of condensation or spit from the instrument (a sealable plastic bag or container with kitchen paper or similar).

Follow these links to find out more about