MASSIVE congratulations to everyone who played in the Bedford Sinfonia concert on Saturday night! It was a superb performance which included a HUGE number of tricky notes for lots of you! The young composers and their families were clearly delighted, as were the other members of the audience.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the last BSO concert of the season as I will be in Lancashire caring for my parents. However, I will be at the rehearsal on Wednesday and look forward to hearing some of the pieces then.
Karen x
Karen Mason
Chair
To reply: [email protected]
From the Committee:
BSO Information:
Rehearsals: Wednesday 6th May, 7.30pm BGI
Sinfonia Information:
Message from Ian:
At time of writing the ‘Young Composers Concert’ has not taken place. More next week on that.
However, we are hoping to give feedback to the composers helpful comments for their future reference. What would be very helpful is to receive any comments that you have that we could feed back to them. Some points have already been raised such as:
- Rest groupings need to fit with the time signature
- When an accidental changes back in the next bar it needs a cautionary accidental inserted (computers don’t do this)
There are others but if any occur to you following your experience of playing the new pieces, please let Ian Smith or Mark Phillips know.
Also, the Concerto Masterclass has been confirmed for Sunday 28 June 2026 at Bedford School Recital Hall. This year we have 4 young soloists so it will run from 2pm - 4.30pm. We have:
Farah Ashby, 15, violin;
Elly Yau, 12, piano
Alice Cumberbatch, 11, violin
Olivia Olleson, 16, flute.
Concerto choices to follow.
Please reserve the date if you are available. It is always a fascinating and uplifting afternoon to hear these young players.
Ian
Message from Ann and Georgina for Publicity:
Thanks to all Sinfonia for your contribution to Saturday’s concert!
We had a fabulous turnout for the Sinfonia concert on Saturday with the downstairs in St Paul’s almost totally full and a good crowd in the balcony. You might like to know that 20%+ of our audience were under the age of 19 with the Young Composers bringing lots of their friends! It was great to hear such loud and enthusiastic applause and shouting! Well deserved all round!
Thanks to those of you in Sinfonia who also brought friends and family to this concert and it was great to see some BSO players there too supporting Sinfonia. In particular, many of the younger members of BSO were there in the audience and stepped in to help out in all sorts of ways from giving out programmes to pouring water for thirsty musicians!
Finally, thanks to our Front of House and BOS Youth Ambassadors Teams who did a great job on the door at the start and the end of the concert. Many people commented to me on the warm and friendly welcome they received from you. It’s a huge part of why people come back to our concerts. Thank you!
BSO May 23rd
BSO - it’s your turn to step into the limelight once more for your last concert of the season!
Ticket sales are already doing pretty well with a post-Sinfonia concert boost in the last few days too. We’ve sold 17% of the tickets so far. With just over 2 weeks to go, we have 330 left to sell. It sounds like a lot, but it’s perfectly possible!
We would like each member of the orchestra to aim to sell 10 tickets each - if you’d like a copy of the guide to 3 easy steps to selling tickets, please click here: BOS lead gen admin (7).pdf
Once again, there is chocolate on offer for those who sell 10 tickets… I have tracked down a supplier of some Terry’s Chocolate Oranges ready to buy!
Book tickets here:
Open Rehearsal: May 6th with U3A
We are delighted to be welcoming 48 people from U3A Bedford/Kempston (University of the Third Age) for a visit to see us in action.
This is an extension of our visit to them last year when Sheila Kaznowska and I did an interactive presentation for them called “The Secret Life of Amateur Orchestras” where we commandeered Malcolm Green on the spot to participate too, which he did brilliantly!
As a result of that, they asked for another “event” and this is what we proposed as a fun, unique and informative opportunity for their members.
Our guests will be seated around the orchestra and we will serve refreshments for them in the break in their seats (too cold outside). Bjorn will also take some time to chat to them during the rehearsal to explain what we are doing and guide them through the evening.
A couple of things to help with the organisation:
- Please allow extra time to arrive and set up, especially if you usually use the lift (double basses). They are arriving early, so please be aware that the landing may be busy and it will take more time to set up.
- Put ALL your cases, coats and stuff in the theatre area behind the folding doors (behind Bjorn). With so many extra people, many of whom are elderly, we need to keep the raised seating area and floor clear to prevent anyone tripping over
- At the start of the break, please allow us to serve the guests first with tea/coffee/biscuits before you help yourselves as usual. (Or bring your own flask for this week!) We will serve them where they are seated. We may call on you to help - thank you!
- Please come and talk to them during the break once they have their drinks. We would like this to be a regular “outing” for them on their calendar and the contact with YOU is the most important part of the experience. Some are from the classical music world, some have never heard a live orchestra. The aim is that everyone finds something interesting and most of all, that they feel welcome and want to come again!
- Concert tickets will be on sale for them before the start, during the break and at the end of the evening at the Reception desk upstairs. They will leave at 9.30pm. Please allow them to leave first.
- Please could everyone help to stack chairs at the end - there will be a lot!
Thank you for your patience in advance - this is an extremely important outreach and marketing activity for us. If any of our visitors become regulars at our concerts, and start to bring their friends, we will be delighted!
That said, this is absolutely a working rehearsal - full steam ahead with Bruckner!
Open Rehearsal: BSO NEW RECRUITS May 20th
Booking link: https://www.ticketsource.com/bedfordshire-orchestral-society/open-rehearsal-for-new-recruits-for-sept-2026/e-vrgdzd
Next season!
Next season, we have managed to secure the Corn Exchange for 4 concerts, Bedford School for one and St Paul’s for Sinfonia in May. This is a fabulous opportunity for us to share our music with more people! We’re getting good at reaching new people and now we need to keep them!
We are celebrating our 60th anniversary with a fabulous line-up both in terms of the programming and guest artists. Many of you will remember Charlie Lovell-Jones who played with us last season. He has recently been named as one of the best up and coming artists by Classic FM. We’re delighted that he is coming back to play with Sinfonia at Bedford School in January.
Tickets and our Season Ticket (20% OFF) are available now - with further group discounts available and of course, children go FREE.
Ticket prices are remaining the same for next season at £20 for full price, which includes the online booking fee.
Browse the new season and the programme here: https://www.ticketsource.com/bedfordshire-orchestral-society
N.B. The programme might still change slightly…
Georgina is taking over the social media for the BSO concert - huge thanks to her in advance! Please give lots of love to her posts. It makes such a difference to our reach.
Love it, share it, comment on it!
Thank you!
Best wishes
Ann and Georgina
PS to reply to Ann: [email protected]
Reply to Georgina: [email protected]
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