Huge thanks to Mark Phillips and Ann Collins who arranged the Young Composers’ Competition workshop last week and to Mark, Ian Smith and Paul Whitmarsh who facilitated it.
Many congratulations to BS members for a fabulous choral concert on Saturday! I know Ian will say more about this, so I won’t steal his thunder 🙂
I was delighted to hear that BSO’s last rehearsal went well with Ben Mason (no relation!) conducting.
I’m looking forward to attending this week’s rehearsal, at which Alex Collins (no relation to Ann Collins!) will be leading as part of his audition. I know you will all make him feel welcome.
Karen x
Karen Mason
Chair
To reply: [email protected]
From the Committee:
Young Composers’ Competition: Workshop
As you know, we had the Young Composers’ Workshop last Friday at St Andrew’s with our three winners, their teachers, Paul Whitmarsh, Ian Smith and Mark Phillips. It was a fantastic success with just the right mix of encouragement, support and new learning.
What struck me was the enthusiasm of the teachers and students to have this opportunity to celebrate the compositions, meet each other and feel supported. They all told me that they felt this was an amazing project and that they are so excited for the concert.
The audience are going to be blown away by the compositions - they are stunning and joyous!
The class of 26 might well go down in history…
St Andrew's Church was a beautiful and practical space for the workshop and worked brilliantly. Many thanks to the Rotary in Bedford for making it possible and sponsoring this part of the competition.
Finally, a huge thanks to Mark, Ian and Paul for their planning and teaching. It was outstanding - the students were engaged from the start right to the end! Wonderful to see!
Looking forward to the next step when they hear their pieces being rehearsed!
The concert on May 2nd is going to be a real highlight of this season - make sure you get your tickets soon!
Ann
Section Leaders’ meeting notes:
Many thanks to all those who managed to make the meeting, that was at an awkward time!
We had 13 people online and it was a very positive conversation.
So much has moved forward in the last year in terms of attracting and welcoming many new members across all the sections of instruments, creating more streamlined ways of communicating within sections and clarifying how we want to rehearse and get the best results possible by supporting all members to get the most from being in the orchestras.
Thanks to all of you for your commitment, expertise and enthusiasm - I’m excited to see how you take these ideas forward in the next few months!
Please find the notes attached here: 2026 MARCH SECTION LEADERS MTG.docx
The next Section Leaders’ meeting will be in early September.
With thanks
Ann
Social event for this term: FOR ALL SINFONIA AND BSO MEMBERS
A post-rehearsal social/pub visit is proposed for next Wednesday 25th March at Brewpoint Pub at 9.35pm.
Please come along and make the most of the time to chat!
Brewpoint is easy for parking with spaces at the front door and whilst it is a pub, the atmosphere is light and more “bistro” in feel with a large selection of non-alcoholic drinks too. Last time, we managed to secure a few large tables for people to sit around.
All welcome!
Sorry, this event isn’t suitable for under 18s, unless you are accompanied by a parent.
Any questions, email me: [email protected]
Ann
BSO Information:
Rehearsals: Wednesday 25th April, 7.30pm BGI
This will be a rehearsal with the first of two candidates, Alex Collins, auditioning for the role of Leader of BSO.
Please note that parts need to be marked up with bowings, if relevant, and bar numbers by Wednesday please!
Repertoire: Bruckner 3, 1st and 2nd movements and Wagner - Overture to Act 3 Lohegrin.
This is the last BSO rehearsal for this term. We return on Wednesday 15th April.
Sinfonia Information:
Congratulations on the SInfonia/Choral Society Verdi's Requiem Concert… do take a look at social media to see a video of the rapturous applause you received from a full house and some photos!
N.B. Sinfonia rehearsals start in the first week back after the school holidays on Tuesday 14th April.
Message from Ian:
Thank you most sincerely to all the Sinfonia players who accompanied the Bedford Choral Society so magnificently on Saturday last. It was thrilling to play to a full Corn Exchange. Thank you particularly to the wind players whose lips may have felt a little tired at the end of the concert! I do hope you all recovered sufficiently for Sunday!
I am very much looking forward to the May concert and performing 3 World Premieres from our competition winners, as well as having Carolyn Sampson sing for us. Carolyn was on Radio 3 on Thursday last week singing the Mozart Exultate Jubilate which she is singing with us.
This concert on 2 May will have 2 intervals. The programme will be Schubert 3 - interval - 3 world premieres - interval - Mozart, Arriaga. The idea of having 2 intervals is to give the audience and players an opportunity to chat with the 3 young composers after their world premieres!
Message from Ann for Publicity:
Saturday 2nd May: please distribute flyers during the Easter holidays! Many thanks to the Flyers’ Team who are doing a great job.
If you’re going to a concert in the area, please think of taking flyers and either putting them out on the chairs or handing them out at the door on the way out with a little bit of chat… If you need more, please arrange a time to pick them from me by sending me an email.
Remember you’re not “selling”, you’re just sharing information!
This is going to be a popular concert, so make sure your friends and family buy their tickets quickly.
Something is happening in Bedford - classical music concerts are consistently selling out and attracting younger audiences, which is amazing news! This weekend the Sinfonia/Choral Society concert was a sell out as was the Ampthill Children's concert, following hot on the heels of our very well received BSO concert in February! I notice how many young people are coming along and we need to look no further than our own young members to see the brilliant work they do in bringing their friends and families.
Furthermore, people are telling me that they are intentionally choosing to support local classical music.
We have an opportunity right now to ride this wave by talking about our concerts, inviting people of all ages, encouraging new members to join us, and talking to local businesses about sponsoring a concert or event in some way.
I don't think we ever expected a golden era in 2026 for classical music in Bedfordshire, but it's arrived!
See Jo's message below for further evidence!
Congratulations to Elias, one of our BOS Youth Ambassadors, who has had his third concert review published by Bedford Independent this season! He has done another fabulous job, especially in his interviewing of the soloist and members of the audience. Thank you, Elias!
Take a look and share: https://www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/review-bedford-symphony-orchestra-wow-audiences-again-with-sensational-sibelius-violin-concerto/
Best wishes
Ann
PS to reply to me: [email protected]
Committee News:
Message from Jo, Treasurer:
Hello Everyone
We had two very welcome surprises last week.
The first was to hear that a Milton Keynes planning company had chosen Bedfordshire Orchestral Society as a beneficiary of their charities group.
We received £1K accordingly as a donation to support music for young people and they were delighted to hear about our free tickets for U18s and reduced membership subscriptions, to which their donation will contribute considerably in the coming months. I also told them about the BOS Young Composers' Competition initiative.
The Orchestral Society was put forward for the grant by the brother of Andrew Blake (our super young cellist, who has been so helpful to the Society in so many ways). Andrew's brother Robert is employed by David Lock Associates.
So a huge thank you to Andrew, Robert and David Lock Associates.
And the second was that we received a donation of £665 which had been raised at a musical fundraising “Rock Night”, where talented young musicians from Bedford School and Bedford Girls’ School performed in bands to a sell‑out audience at the Quarry Theatre.
As I said in my thank you email “It's very touching and heartwarming that the very youngsters whom we try to support with reduced subscriptions and free tickets are giving back to the Society by thinking of us for their charitable collections”
Thank you so much to all of the teachers, young people and parents who raised the money and thought of us!
Incidentally, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has conducted some research recently which shows that young people are increasingly interested in live orchestral music. I have been in touch with their Deputy Managing Director / Business Development Director who will send me details of the research when it’s published in April and hopefully I’ll be able to use it in future grant and sponsorship applications as evidence for why it’s worth supporting us!
Very best wishes to all
Jo
Hon Treasurer
From our friends:
Don't miss it! A fabulous lunchtime concert tomorrow at St Paul's Church at 1pm featuring four of our violinists: Peter, Caroline, Terry and Alex
Dan Mihailiuc, who is now a student at Guildhall, used to play with BSO and Sinfonia and he's coming back to Bedford to give a concert. He would love to see you there!
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