Orchestral praise
The Nelson Symphony Orchestra can hold its head high in the music world. The orchestra comprises players with national and international experience and also young players still at college; many members are in full time work and some are retired but they all meld into a cohesive unit under the direction of Nigel Weeks, a conductor continuing a highly successful conducting and teaching career.
Each year the orchestra presents Nelson with a series of concerts spanning classical music from past centuries to the present day and from many countries. Attending these concerts gives young people in particular an experience beyond the guitar and a chance to see a great range of string, wind, keyboard and percussion instruments in action. They also give audiences an opportunity for time out to enjoy the sheer beauty of classical music, a time for excitement and reflection.
After four successful concerts this year the orchestra has certainly earned continuing support from local councils, businesses and communities. A heartfelt ‘thankyou’ to the conductor and musicians who donate so much of their spare time to rehearsing so that audiences can have a great evening out. discipline to the Trafalgar Centre project while he was employed by NCC, and had parties involved been told to pay recompense a vastly different result, in greatly reduced costs, would have occurred. It is extremely unfortunate that didn’t happen.
Loose arrangements are great for contractors, but as both the Trafalgar Centre and Queen Street examples have shown, projects can quickly get out of hand if council staff and consultants use slack methods. The current methodology being promoted by local councils and consultants is known as Early Contractor Involvement. This dubious method of running projects needs to be viewed by ratepayers with caution, particularly when considering the financing of the Lee Valley dam.