News on the venue. (Costs will be dealt with in the finance thread.)
With regards to availability, of the two possible dates, the first, Friday 30th March to Sunday 1st of April 2007 is not available as they have a Choral Society booked. I can see their point that our music may not be exactly compatible.
However the second date, April 13th to 15th 2007, is available and we are pencilled in for it.
At the moment the exact amount of accommodation available is not known. Suffice to say, first come first served, until the space runs out.
With regards to the concert planned for the Sunday afternoon, they are amenable to the idea - the Choral Society are apparently doing something similar.
The school are having another meeting next Tuesday, at which time more information should become available.
Additionally Maya and I have arranged to visit the school on Tuesday 24 October (i.e. during the half-term holidays) to review the accommodation.
On the plan-B front, we will be looking at another public school in the local area for comparison of costs etc, and also another possible venue has come to light. (Note for overseas readers - "public school" is English for "private school" - i.e. not state funded.)
Also... On the 18th of October I will be playing at "Passing Clouds" - a very new art-music venue in London. http://passingclouds.org/
From their myspace site:
"On 1 June 2006, Passing Clouds Works was established by a collective of artists, film makers, musicians, photographers, writers and the like on the corner of a back alley by the old railway line in Dalston. The former print-works is now the home to one of East London's most exciting new arts ventures hosting vibrant art, film, theatre and music events. [...] Passing Clouds Works is available to hire for location filming, rehearsal space, hosting events, photographic shoots and much more. We are looking for promoters to run events, or anyone with an idea for a regular night, be it literary, art, music, performance or education based."
The obvious disadvantage is the need to make separate arrangements for accommodation, i.e. cutting a deal with a local hotel, which will doubtless be more expensive. On the other hand it is well located for garnering an audience for the Sunday afternoon concert, being in the same area as a lot of other alternative music activity in London.