Dear All
Our Open Rehearsal this week was a great success! Thanks to those who invited people and to everyone in BSO! We put our best foot forward and thank you in particularly to those who made our visitors welcome by chatting, offering tea and cake, explaining how it all works etc. They were very impressed by our playing as well as the ambiance and we have a couple of extra players hoping now to join us in September. They left with flyers and programmes and I hope onbe or two will come to our concert on Saturday too. Most importantly, we are demonstrating that we are a friendly orchestra that plays very well. Social media posts are one thing, but opening the doors shows we are the real thing!
BSO concert this week: Saturday 24th May at Bedford Corn Exchange.
Please make sure you are seated at 2.20pm, ready to start at 2.30pm.
N.B. Remember the extra Friday night rehearsal: 7.30pm-9.30pm at the Castle Newnham SOUTH site (Goldington Road) Block 2 Hall
Rehearsal on Wednesday: as usual, 7.30-9.30pm at BGI
For all players, here is the information for the day itself including timings, dress code, phone numbers etc. Click HERE
Tickets: we need a major push on tickets please. We have only sold 14% of the tickets and we're not quite outnumbering the audience! As it's a Bank Holiday weekend, it needs an extra special effort. Remember: please aim to sell 10 tickets online, if at all possible.
We have a fabulous new online ticket shop now that has lower admin fees and it's very easy to navigate: TICKET SHOP We're getting pretty good feedback, except that PayPal and ApplePay are not currently offered as payment methods. I'm trying to find out if that can be an option for next time.
Looking for free Under 18s tickets? There are still quite a few available for Saturday at the time of writing. This is going to be a great concert for younger members of the audience with lots of action and a great soloist!
Committee News:
It was great to see a good number of Section Leaders, volunteers and Committee members at our Thank You Drinks and Nibbles! On behalf of all the members, thank you for everything you do! It is a vital service that you give to us all.
And on that note...
Recently we asked for volunteers for two roles: to collate and coordinate the production of the printed programme for next season and secondly, somebody to take over from Louise Radok to run and take responsibility for the Front of House Box Office.
Silence!
Result:
- There won't be a printed or digital programme for next season. Programme notes and soloist bios will be listed under each concert event on our website and a QR code will be available on the loose sheet with the player list for the audience to access that info. Many other amateur and professional orchestras are printing less and doing this.
- Our ticket sales will be going online totally from September. There will not be a Box Office on the door for our concerts, although you will be able to buy tickets online up to 10 minutes before the concert starts. We will not be taking cash at all - we want everyone please to buy online. However, the Corn Exchange is always available for in person, telephone and cash bookings during their opening hours. This is a quite a big culture change for some in our audience and it won't be popular with everyone, but it is the right time, especially as we don't have anyone to run a Box Office! We need to know exactly who is buying and to track our sales so that we can target our marketing much better and hopefully start selling out well in advance. We can also start offering Early Bird Offers, include our FREE Under 18s offers on the same link and offer group discounts.
We will be asking for people to come forward in the next few weeks to help in a variety of ways. Please think if you would be able to give us some time and, crucially, take responsibility for some part of the organisation. It's an exciting time for BOS, but we need you to not just give us your ideas, but also take them and implement them.
Finances:
Our Treasurer, Jo Ploszajski, is proposing an online Zoom presentation to give you all the details about our financial situation. Notes and a video recording will be sent out afterwards. Many thanks to Jo for doing this. I think it is so important that everyone has a chance to see where we are, so that there are no surprises. We have got a fragile ship to steady and we have one year to do it...
Wednesday 4th June 7-8pm
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7044421352?omn=82468874156
Please note this is a change from the previous email due to a clash with Sinfonia rehearsals. We hope this makes it easy for everyone to attend, should they wish.
Final Subscriptions Reminder:
Please ensure that you are up to date with your subscriptions. If you need any further information about how to pay (and to check if you have paid), please contact me in the first instance.
What's ON in June:
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.
Sinfonia rehearsals start THIS WEEK on Tuesday. Please check with your Section Leader, if you need any further information.
Sinfonia Rehearsal Information this week for June 21st:
Dates: Tues 20th May
Time: 7.30pm
Location: Castle Newnham School SOUTH SITE Goldington Road Block 1 Hall
Podcast:
If you haven't yet heard Bjorn's episode with me, do tune in to listen to how he came to be a conductor and why he chose this very special programme, including the piece composed by his Great-grandfather, Granville Bantock.
STOP PRESS: To read the Bedford Sinfonia Concert Press Review: Bedford Independent
Looking forward to a great week of music for BSO and Sinfonia!
With best wishes
Ann Collins
Interim Chair
To reply to Ann: hit reply
On behalf of all the Committee
Bedfordshire Orchestral Society
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