Dear All
As we welcome many of you back and some of you for the first time this week, the Committee has been busy preparing! Thanks to them for supporting us all in the logistics to hopefully give us a smooth departure!
We’re so pleased to have a number of new people coming for the very first time and looking forward to welcoming you over the next few weeks.
To our new members: we want you to feel welcome and part of the BOS community as quickly as possible. Your Section Leader will be on the lookout for you on Wednesday, or the week after, and most Sections are putting together a WhatsApp group for you to join, if you wish. This helps to communicate last minute changes, absences etc and it’s an easy way to keep in touch and ask any little questions that come up.
All members of the Committee are there to help you settle in too - please come and talk to us. At BSO, we will have our lanyards on!
If you prefer to email, just hit reply to this and it will come directly to me!
I’ve heard from a couple of new members that they’re not sure if they are signed up or not or coming for a trial - please reply to this mail if that’s you, and we can sort it out!
Section Leaders’ Meeting last week
Thanks so much to everyone who came! To have 15 people on the call was fabulous and reflects the commitment from our Leaders and Section Leaders to help us all rehearse better and play better!
Please find the notes from the meeting here: 2025 SEPT SECTION LEADERS MTG MINUTES.docx
The next meeting for Section Leaders is booked for the start of the Spring Term.
A reminder about the Young Composers’ Competition May 2026: entries can now be submitted.
FB link to the post: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AgSCmff8i/?mibextid=wwXIfr
The Young Composers’ Competition is up and running - if you’re a teacher or a student, take a look and share!
Many thanks firstly to Mark Phillips, who is leading this project for us, and for the input of our Bedford Sinfonia conductor, Ian Smith, our panel of judges and Carolyn Sampson, who have kindly agreed to be part of the project.
This is a special opportunity for young composers in Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes.
On 2 May 2026, Bedford Sinfonia is giving a concert of music written when the composers were still in their teens, The programme will include symphonies by Schubert and Arriaga, and Mozart's Exultate, jubilee with soloist Carolyn Sampson OBE, herself a former Bedfordshire Youth Music student.
Around the concert, Bedfordshire Orchestral Society is planning a number of events to celebrate young people's music-making, the work of their teachers, and the important role that composing plays in the school curriculum.
We are excited to launch a search for three new short compositions by students living or studying in Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, the Borough of Luton and the City of Milton Keynes,
aged between 14 and 19. The chosen pieces will be played by Bedford Sinfonia - and sung by Carolyn Sampson, should the pieces include soprano voice - as part of our Bedford Sinfonia May 2 concert.
Compositions will be welcome in any musical style. We will also welcome fusions and the inclusion of non-orchestral instruments. We're hoping that at least one piece will be chosen from the 14-16 age group, and one from the 16-19 age group. The pieces will be chosen by a panel including Mark Phillips, Ian
Smith (conductor, Bedford Sinfonia), Paul Whitmarsh (Guildhall School of Music), and Kate Knight and Debbie Saunders (two playing members of Bedford Sinfonia).
Any further info: [email protected]
Please circulate this to music teachers, students and anyone else you think you could help us reach GCSE and A Level music students!
BSO Information:
Rehearsals start this Wednesday 10th September
Time: 7.30pm - be seated by 7.25pm
Finish: 9.30pm
Venue: Bedford Greenacre Independent School, Manton Lane
Please note that a blank register will be available for everyone to sign as they arrive at Reception. This is very important for fire regulations, please! Thank you!
Please remember to bring your own stands and a cup for your tea/coffee. Jo and I are in charge of refreshments this week. If you would like to contribute some biscuits or cake, please feel free!
Moving forward we are aiming to share out the responsibility for refreshments over the year. More to come on that…
Message from Bjorn:
Dear Members of the Bedfordshire Symphony Orchestra,
As we gather once more after a rejuvenating summer hiatus, I am thrilled to welcome you all back to what promises to be an exhilarating season. This marks my inaugural year as your conductor, and I could not be more excited to embark on this journey with such a talented and dedicated ensemble.
Our opening program sets a high bar, featuring Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World," Felix Mendelssohn's Overture and Incidental Music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain." These works, rich in narrative and innovation, will allow us to explore new depths of expression and unity as an orchestra.
Dvořák's "New World" Symphony, composed during his time in America, subtly weaves in rhythms inspired by Native American dances and African American spirituals, but what's intriguing is how Dvořák drew from his own Bohemian heritage to evoke a sense of longing—evident in the cor anglais solo of the second movement, which echoes Czech folk melodies rather than direct American quotes, creating a transatlantic dialogue that's both personal and universal. Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream" music showcases his prodigious talent; the overture, penned at just 17, ingeniously uses fluttering woodwinds to mimic fairy wings, while the incidental music, added years later, incorporates a innovative use of the ophicleide for a haunting, otherworldly tone that adds to the dreamlike chaos without overpowering the strings.
As for Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain," orchestrated posthumously by Rimsky-Korsakov, it draws from Russian pagan folklore depicting a witches' sabbath, but a fascinating detail is Mussorgsky's original raw, dissonant scoring, which Rimsky softened; the piece's frenetic energy actually stems from a rejected opera scene, transforming operatic drama into a standalone tone poem that challenges our brass and percussion to conjure true sonic mayhem.
In this spirit of discovery, I extend a special welcome to our new members joining the orchestra this season—your fresh perspectives and skills will undoubtedly enrich our sound and foster even greater camaraderie among us. Let's commit to regular practice not just as a routine, but as a joyful ritual that builds our technical prowess and deepens our bonds through shared music-making. Whether in sectionals or full rehearsals, embrace the opportunity to support one another, exchange ideas, and celebrate the magic that happens when we play as one. I look forward to seeing you all at our first rehearsal!
Repertoire for 10th Sept:
Before the break: Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain: Full read-through, brass/perc
After the break: Dvořák Mvt. II (Largo)
Sinfonia Information:
Thanks to all those who have returned their availability forms. If you haven’t yet been in contact with your Section Leader, please try to do that this week.
If you are a String Player, please confirm your availability for Oct 19th asap. Many thanks!
Committee News:
Save the date:
AGM Meeting Online: Thursday 2nd October 7-8pm (Followed by the Committee meeting)
The AGM will follow the usual structure of the AGM and Treasurer’s Reports and voting in the new Committee. In addition, we would like to get your involvement in thinking about the future of the Society and contributing your ideas. This has been discussed at the Section Leaders meeting before the summer and we are excited to provide a space to start this broader discussion.
As a Committee, we’re starting a 5 year planning process and have already talked to the Leaders and Section Leaders about their vision, but now it’s time to open the discussion up to everyone. We’re really excited to hear your ideas!
Let’s be ambitious and bold!
Bedfordshire Orchestral Society Membership Subscription
Hello again everyone,
I’d just like to remind you all again that Bedfordshire Orchestral Society Membership Subscriptions will fall due at the first BSO rehearsal on 10th September.
For the 25-26 season, the membership subscription to the Society is £165 or £55 for under 19’s. (Apologies, I put the wrong amount in last week’s newsletter). Please pay subscriptions by bank transfer if possible, otherwise by cheque (BOS bank details below and on the Membership form).
Please consider adding an optional extra donation of £10 to your subscription, if you can, to help us to rebuild our reserves to the amount required by the BOS constitution.
I will bring blank membership forms to the BSO rehearsals from Wednesday 10th September and the Committee would be most grateful if all membership subscriptions could be paid by the end of September 2025. Thank you in anticipation.
If you have any difficulties regarding payments, please contact me at [email protected] or have a word with me or another Committee member at rehearsals.
Many thanks.
For the 25-26 season, players who only play in Sinfonia are invited to make a voluntary contribution to the Society.
Looking forward to a great year of music-making.
Jo Ploszajski (BOS Hon Treasurer)
Please make payments to:-
Bedfordshire Orchestral Society
CAF Bank
Sort Code 40-52-40
Acc.No. 00000814
From our friends:
A wonderful opportunity to hear Gramophone Award nominated star, Charlie Lovell-Jones, playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Bedford players and audiences will remember him from his stunning performance of the Britten Concerto earlier this year.
The concert is in aid of the Milton Keynes Cancer Centre, where conductor Catherine Rose was treated during 2022. It includes Rossini’s Overture the Italian Girl in Algiers and Haydn’s Symphony No 92 (The Oxford).
Date: Saturday 4th October at 7.20 pm
Venue: Stantonbury Theatre, Milton Keynes
Tickets: £15 from www.stantonburytheatre.co.uk
That just leaves me to wish you all a fabulous "back to orchestra" week and I look forward to seeing you soon.
With best wishes
Ann
Interim Chair
Bedfordshire Orchestral Society
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