Dear All
I hope you enjoed your week off after the BSO concert and many of you who were on half term holidays too!
This week is a busy one for non-playing activities in BOS!
Wednesday 7-8pm: Financial Presentation from Jo Ploszajski, our Treasurer
Come to find out all about our financial situation and also how we have planned for next Season to ensure that we can survive.
Online on Zoom 7-8pm
Link to join: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7044421352?omn=82468874156
Wednesday 8.15-9.15pm: Meeting for Section Leaders and Leaders
A very important meeting for you to share your vision of the orchestras and to identify as a team what you would like to focus on in the coming season to help us move forward.
Online on Zoom: 8.15pm
Link to join: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7044421352?omn=89355921075
Thursday 7pm: Committee Meeting at Ann's house
47 The Grove, Bedford MK40 3JN
If you've been following the news of our financial situation in the last 6 weeks, you won't be surprised to know that we have looked carefully at our two main streams of income: ticket sales and subscriptions.
Advance notice: Subscription Changes for ALL Bedfordshire Orchestral Society players: Sinfonia and BSO
I understand that in the past, this has been a very grey area, which has made it rather difficult to unravel in the last few weeks. After a lot of discussion within the Committee, looking at the budget and our huge losses these last few years and noting the numbers of regular players, who are not paying currently, we can see that our current model of subscriptions to belong to BOS (essentially just for BSO regular players) is now no longer tenable.
The Bedfordshire Orchestral Society is made up of two orchestras that are run side by side: BSO and Sinfonia. Their finances are shared, the management of these is shared and they both fall under the one Constitution as a Charity (it's on the website, if you are interested). We are accountable to the Charity Commission and our accounts have to be submitted annually and are public. We are bound by fairly strict regulations and as a Committee, we are expected to act in the best interests of the Charity.
As you know, we are financially vulnerable at the moment after a perfect storm of decreased funding and ticket sales and increased costs.
Together with our financial fragility, it also doesn't seem fair that some people are paying subscriptions to play in the BOS and others, not. These two aspects sit uncomfortably and also in the eyes of potential donors/funding partners, are a real block. With the advice we've had from various people in finance and arts funding, they have all said the same: we need to demonstrate that BOS is well managed with a transparent structure and crucially that we can cover our running costs.
Bluntly, things need to change for us to survive and lay strong foundations for the future.
Many arts organisations are struggling right now, but we know that we have the capacity to thrive, if we can fund our running costs on the basis of ticket sales and membership fees. At the moment, we have 100 people on this "BOS Members" email list and yet, only the equivalent of approximately 50 people are paying (our young players pay a reduced rate). If those remaining people paid, we would add several thousands to our annual budget.
There is a bit of a myth that Choral Society payments cover Sinfonia running costs and all 3 concerts over the season - it's far from the case! We generally lose significant sums each time we put on any concert. (Most orchestras do!) Choral Society concerts make a contribution towards our other concert costs, but are far from covering Sinfonia activities across the year.
Finally, it's time now for us to be sustainable as an organisation. Without substantial external funding, we have to be self-funding!
Ticket sales are a large part of that and we are making progress, but we still need to substantially increase our sales income in the next year. We're working on that with a growing email list, online booking and group/season incentives planned for next season. We hope with increased numbers of "Members", that more players will also actively sell tickets.
Subscriptions are our other stream of income and our only stream of income that is guaranteed over the season. Increasing subscription payments is not a magic bullet, but it is an important part of our financial strategy to stabilise the charity.
The Committee has decided therefore that we need to move to a model where essentially, if you play, you pay. Just like any other club or society.
This also brings us into line with other local orchestras, with whom we are in close contact and very grateful for their sharing of financial information. We're keen to make sure that we are mutually supportive of one another, so that we can all survive!
This next year will therefore be a transition year. For those who have not paid till now, we hope you will sign up as a paying BOS member in September 2025.
From September 2025, all BOS players (whether Sinfonia or BSO players) will be invited to sign up as paying Members of BOS, to be part of the Charity. Only "exotic" instruments will be exempt: harp, some additional percussion and some brass that are rarely used. The full subscription will be £165/year for next season + a voluntary donation of £10 if you would like to contribute more.
From Sept 2026, it will be a requirement to be a paying Member, if you wish to play in either Sinfonia and/or BSO, unless you are an "exotic". Our concert programmes will in future be planned as far as possible around the BOS members, so that we can stay within our budget and give all paying members the opportunity to perform.
Of course, for those who are studying or need financial assistance, we will continue that commitment to supporting any Members who need help.
We also need to continue to focus on excellence - but I'm a firm believer that we can all step up when required. We have amazing staff to help us improve with our Conductors, Leaders supported by the Section Leaders and it will be a team effort to make this transition.
It is a big change that is uncomfortable, but it is one that is going to be part of a package of measures for BSO/Sinfonia to survive beyond the next season and to be fair to everyone.
We thank you in advance for your ongoing support and your understanding of what are challenging times.
If you need any further information or have any comments, just hit reply. I'm more than happy to discuss.
Finally, we have lots of music to look forward to in a few weeks...
What's ON in June:
BOS Social Event: Wednesday 11th June 7.30pm
The Pheasant Pub
Bedford Sinfonia perform with Bedford Choral Society on June 21st and the Rotary Young Musician's Concerto Masterclass on June 22nd with members of Sinfonia.
Plus the Out and About Concert series to take us into the Summer.
With best wishes and many thanks
Ann
Ann Collins
Interim Chair
On behalf of all the Committee
Bedfordshire Orchestral Society
Registered charity no. 262813
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"A jewel in the crown of Bedford. We're so lucky to have such great musicians!"
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