Project Grant

The primary out come will be the presentation of an interesting musical program for the community including a wide range of orchestral music associated with dance. This will be educational for both the members and the audience..; 1. Audience education - We hope to clearly demonstrate through the music performed and both program notes and information from the conductor, the importance of film score music in the body of orchestral repertoire. We expect audiences will leave with a greater appreciation for the breadth of the repertoire and its importance in the artistic value of film. 2. Member satisfaction - We strive to have a high level of participant satisfaction. This program promises to be challenging, educational, and exciting to perform. Our member surveys will include questions such as "Are you aware of connections between the different composers represented?" and "Was the music too challenging, just right, or not challenging enough?". BCO Members and audience members will be surveyed following the performance.; Attendance: Information on audience attendance is obtained by the old-fashioned method of handing out color-coded tickets (adults one color, seniors a second, youth a third) to attendees as they enter the PAC, then gathering those same tickets back from our guests as they enter the auditorium. Attendance numbers are used as an indicator of whether or not we are offering music that meets our community's interests. Keeping track of different age groups tells us if we are being successful at attracting young people to our concerts, a critical component of ongoing orchestra existence. Orchestra members log in at each rehearsal, usually during our treat break, giving us rehearsal attendance information. Falling attendance indicates some dissatisfaction with the experience, a misalignment that requires prompt and focused attention. Surveys: As audience members enter on concert night they are asked to fill out an evaluation form, and if they agree they are given a half-page sheet (sample provided below) to fill out after the concert, perhaps as they are enjoying cookies and coffee or juice. These are focused on the concert just concluded. We ask both broad and specific questions about the just finished concert. A sample of our brief survey is included in the sample below. Our members are given a similar half page sheet at the rehearsal following the concert. We convert the three available responses ("-, 0, +") to numerical values (1, 2, 3) and obtain scores for each question. Every second year, after our final concert of the year, we survey our audience members with a much more thorough survey. We ask questions about age of participant, number of concerts attended during the year, how far they traveled, how they learned about BCO, what kind of music they prefer, what concerts do they attend throughout the year, why they attend BCO concerts over some others, and more. These data points are tabulated and presented to our board. Our orchestra members are very important to us, and we work hard to meet their expectations. We survey members every year at the end of the season. We ask about overall response to the past year, what kind of music they would like to perform, how we might improve the overall experience, how our paid associates met expectations, ask for feedback on each past concert, and give them lots of room for comments. All orchestra members are encouraged to to visit with guests during our post-concert reception, and we receive very many positive responses at this time. These are seldom critical, hard to tabulate, but very rewarding to receive!