Dear All
This is the final newsletter of the 2024-25 Season!
Congratulations to our musicians who took part in our final concert of the season on Sunday in Harrold. Particular congratulations to Ben, Peter and Lottie, our soloists, and to Jan, for organising and directing the ensemble. Both concerts were very well attended and we had great feedback from people who thoroughly enjoyed the fabulous playing! What a great way to end the season!
What a fabulous year we’ve had - with 2000+ people in the audience, 120+ musicians performing in 11 events over 9 months; 2 gorgeous babies born to orchestra members and even a wedding within our ranks!
When I went through some of my favourite photos from the year, it struck me just how many show the real joy of performing and playing music together.
Here are just a few for you to enjoy scattered throughout the newsletter today… there are plenty more on Facebook or Instagram...
Of course, none of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of the BOS Committee, our Conductors, Leaders, Section Leaders and volunteers, including our Librarians, Flyers’ Team, Front of House teams and BOS Youth Ambassadors. Huge thanks to you all for not only the visible work, but especially the work behind the scenes that means that we are ready to play in public, time after time, throughout the season.
Our friends and partners at the Corn Exchange, St Paul’s, Bedford Independent, the Philharmonia, Bedford Choral Society, St Andrew’s Concerts, Bedford and Castle Rotary, BGI School and Bedford Music Hub and many others help us in many ways. Those community links allow us to make an impact on so many people - thanks to them and finally, to each one of you, our Members.
You turn up, work on your part, support the Committee, help others, make cake, put out chairs, tidy up, welcome newcomers… I see you and together with all the Committee, I’d like to thank you! You make the BOS charity what it is!
A final What’s On…:
The Young Composers’ Competition is launching this week - if you’re a teacher or a student, take a look and share! It's an incredible way for us to reach out to all schools in Bedfordshire and build meaningful relationships with the music teachers to support them in their work and encourage their pupils to take up this opportunity to have their pieces performed by Sinfonia next May 2026. Carolyn Sampson, our soloist, has agreed to sing for them, if required - what a opportunity to write something just for her!
For all the info:
Link to document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uz4tjoCUSmm_utX4WQegD-6WsoH2oh-X/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103686532259604095936&rtpof=true&sd=true
Committee News:
It’s that time of year again when you can join the Committee and be part of the exciting preparations for our 60th Anniversary Season 2026-27!
I speak for everyone on the Committee when I say that we really need more help and without people coming forward, we will need to consider the viability of putting on so many events every year going into the future.
Remember, if you volunteer, you can have a big job or a small job - whatever works for you. All of these roles listed below can be shared (anyone like to help me with Publicity??!) and would make it more fun and more manageable all round!
As you know, I have been Interim Chair for the last few months. I've done my best to stand in at short notice and together with the Committee, we have steered the ship towards a successful conclusion of the season with next season prepared and with money in the bank so we can open the doors in September. I feel now however that I have done what I can as Chair. The Publicity and Outreach role that I have already is quite enough for me and where I feel I can add most value, so we are actively looking for someone to take on the role of Chair from October - please!
The role of Chair is one essentially of coordinating activities and ensuring that the Committee acts in the best interests of the Charity. It's also an outward facing role, which is very interesting, bringing you in contact with many different people in the wider community. It is a role that you can make your own and do in your way. Bringing your unique skills and approach is what matters - if you care about the Society and want to help see it through next season and beyond, have a think about it! We're hoping that with two Orchestra Managers in place, it will be a more manageable role than it has been going forward.
If you want to talk to me about it, just hit reply.
Committee roles overview for Oct 2025:
Some are vacant and the rest are up for re-election:
Chair: Vacant
Secretary: Julia Lence - up for re-election
Treasurer: Jo Ploszajski - up for re-election
Membership Secretary: Vicky Owen - up for re-election
Publicity/Marketing/Sales/Outreach: Ann Collins - up for re-election
BSO Rep: Vacant
BSO Rep/Orchestra Manager: Vacant
Sinfonia Rep: Dominic Mills - up for re-election
Sinfonia Rep/Orchestra Manager: Vacant
Volunteers:
Librarian Sinfonia and Programme Lead: Ben Philipps
Librarian BSO: Andrea Kilpatrick
Social Events: Julia Robinson
Ticket Sales: Rupert Adams
Grant Submissions: Tony Ploszajski
Front of House Team Leaders: Richard Robinson and Tony Ploszajski
Flyers' Distribution Team Leader: Ann Collins
The Orchestra Manager roles are key for both orchestras and could definitely be shared between 2 or more people. Why not think about contributing to an aspect of it? There's lots to do and lots to share out!
Message from Jo, our Treasurer:
Finance Update: appeal for donations and sponsors
Dear BSO and Sinfonia friends and colleagues,
As you are aware BOS has been losing money for the past three years, partly due to poor ticket sales, the cost of extras and more expensive programming. Some of the anticipated losses for the 24-25 season have been mitigated by many of our “extras” very generously waiving their fees, for which, I’m sure, all of us are very grateful. And the good news is that we should end the year with about £14K in our reserves.
It does, however, mean that we start the 25-26 season with working capital well below the level of £30K which we should have available according to our Constitution.
As you can see, BOS needs to rebuild its finances as quickly as possible and to do this, the Committee has planned next season’s programme with a view to minimizing the costs of music hire and unavoidable extras costs, such as the harp and percussion.
In addition, as you know, the Society is asking all members to contribute to the Society by paying a subscription to the Society’s running costs. If most members contribute and we manage to maintain our buoyant ticket sales, BOS should break even or make a small surplus next year.
However, we need to rebuild our finances and would like, in the near future, to be able to return to more programmes where we can spend a little more freely. And so the Committee is exploring additional funding through donations and sponsorship. Ideally, we will find a major sponsor, but this may not happen immediately. I am writing therefore, to ask for your help in two ways:
1. Sponsorship:
If you own, or work for, or have a friend or family member who owns or knows of an organization or business which might be interested in becoming a major sponsor of BOS (ideally £5K-£10Kpa) could you get in touch with me please at the email address below and I will make further enquiries with them.
Similarly, if you know of a business which might make a smaller annual donation to BOS in return for recognition on the concert sheet and website, please also get in touch with me and I'll get in touch to arrange how to do this.
2.Donations:
If you or a friend or family member who enjoys attending our concerts or maybe who played in the youth orchestras who would like to recognize the contribution which the orchestras make to the quality of life in Bedfordshire by making a donation to help the orchestras to survive this difficult patch, could you ask them whether they would be willing to make a donation to Bedfordshire Orchestral Society please? We have created a link on the website for donations
https://bedfordsymphony.com/sponsorship/
If just 20 people could make a donation of £50 or £100 , this will make an important contribution to rebuilding our financial foundations.
Thank you very much for your support.
Jo Ploszajski, BOS Hon Treasurer,
Wishing you all a very happy and relaxing summer and looking forward to seeing you in September.
The next newsletter will come out at the start of September.
Remember that rehearsals for BSO start on the 10th September at BGI!
Best wishes
Ann
Interim Chair
Bedfordshire Orchestral Society
PS if you missed next year's calendar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/151UUkPNX3P6NCMo6IRjDcN5yoPTGikHE/view?usp=sharing
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