Ladies and gentlemen, members of the society and fellow members of council. It is indeed an honour to present my rst presidential address and to say a somewhat belated ‘thank you’ to members for the trust they put in me last year by electing me to this position. It would be wrong to start without a reference to Elaine Gould, who we so tragically lost in 2025. Her main legacy, that of the patronage of the Duke of Edinburgh, stands as a momentous recognition for the society. I hope we have maintained this legacy by the development of the outreach programme, a suggestion of HRH. Likewise, an opening mention should be given to Peter, who despite his loss, helped maintain the equilibrium of the society in those di cult days. The year since has been one of change and development. We have completed, or are working on, several improvements to the building, have purchased recording equipment and now accept donations by card. On a more prosaic level, we have revised policies and thus continue to ensure we are compliant with ever-evolving regulations. On programme planning, we have extended the outreach to encourage a season involving more local artists, not least because of feedback received from members. Several new council members have brought to it a wide range of skills and I hope you will bear with me if I mention them individually. We must always remember that in common with other societies like ours, council members give unsel shly of their time for no remuneration whilst managing busy lives of their own. I’ll start with Daniele, for bringing his technical knowledge. This will allow us to record and disseminate performances on the net for members. He will also soon re-organise and standardise our email communications. Octavia also joined us last year and has taken over the running of the building. She has the amazing talent of getting people to actually turn up and get things done, re ected in the new dimmable lighting, many minor repairs and ultimately, our new kitchen. Without being in any way patronising, I think she has also been responsible for much of the upturn in audience numbers with her amazing baking for intervals.We also welcomed a new secretary, Craig, whose personable and calm approach helps us organise seamlessly, despite ‘learning on the job’. He had a hard act to follow when we lost the services of Terrence Daintith to whom I pay may own personal thanks for advice and help. Terry once described being the society’s secretary as like trying to repair an aeroplane’s engines whilst in mid- ight. Likewise Lawrence, our treasurer, whose quiet patience belies a forensic e ciency and who, despite a house move and family commitments, has updated the societies accounts procedures. It would also be wrong to omit Kieron, our latest conscript who is also learning programme organisation this coming year. He is also a performer for the society and is building a career for himself as a guitarist. We inaugurated a new position of vice president, which we were all glad Christine Hurley accepted. Christine has been the driving force behind the outreach programme. Local universities, schools and individual musicians have all enhanced our programme with some memorable evenings. It is a tribute to Christine that this has developed so quickly. Christine has, in addition, provided us with some excellent concerts as a performer. She also represented the society at the Royal Garden Party along with Nancy Crook and Peter. It is worth acknowledging here, without embarrassing them individually that several members of council have maintained their commitment and contribution to the society despite major professional, personal and family di culties. Both myself and the society gratefully note and appreciate this. Our new initiative of inviting volunteers to help at concert nights has been an outstanding success. These volunteers help with evening logistics and welcoming, thus enhancing the evening experience. The society thanks you for your time and contribution. Moving on, however, means losing members. Salvatore has organised letting since none of us can remember and has also performed at the society. He will be a huge miss, of which more later in the evening but an able replacement has arisen in Sarah, who has previously looked after artist accommodation. She has, like Craig, shadowed Salvatore in the role and takes over from him officially this evening.We should also mention Philip, who we managed to tangibly thank by somewhat sneakily tricking him into compering an evening at xmas. As always with such lists of thanks, it has to stop somewhere but honourable mentions should go to long-standing friends of the society who continue to contribute concerts and act as volunteers. These include Nancy Crook, Dr John Willmett and Steve Morrison, all of whom have helped out at short notice with concerts or reacted to date changes with friendly accommodation. Finally, more than a passing vote of thanks must be noted for Sylvia, our housekeeper, who not only maintains the building immaculately but has put in extra e ort recently to ensure the dust created by building works is cleared for Saturday night concerts. And so the to membership, which now stands at nearly 80. All the organising and planning would be worthless without the members and regular attenders, many of whom are here tonight. We o er our heartfelt thanks for your continuing support. Edinburgh is not short of artistic societies nor alternative Saturday concerts and the full or near full houses we have experienced since January are both appreciated and encouraging. A further thanks is due to those who donate after concerts, often in addition to their membership. This allows us to provide the hospitality which greatly enhances the concert experience. The core of the society remains the Saturday concerts and I personally feel we had an amazing season in 25-26. Whist I would not single out any for fear of comparison, I feel this is re ected in the increased attendances already mentioned. As a fairly ‘journeyman’ performer myself, I am constantly humbled by performers’ CV’s, their ability to include major works and to perform in front of our supportive, knowledgable audience. I salute them all. We are overwhelmed annually with applications to perform, re ecting the reputation of the society. Indeed, we already have our rst booking for the 27-28 season. So we look forward to 26-27 with a full programme, a new kitchen and in increasing membership who regularly test our re limit of 55. Many thanks for all your support as we seek to continue this long legacy of providing high quality chamber music, free and open to all, in this amazing venue. Many thanks, David Wilson