Project Grant

Our inaugural concert of the 2023-2024 season, "A toast to 29 years!" will feature programming of classic overtures leaving audience members hungry for the next act. Grant funding will permit us to offer no-cost access to exciting and enticing programming, and this reduction in a financial barrier will allow a wider number of members of our community to participate in a live performance experience. Through concert notes, a pre-concert director chat, and direct contact with the music and musicians, audience members will become more deeply connected with music both new and familiar. Even in our rural community, folks can connect with high quality arts experiences because of grant funding. Due to the energizing nature of overtures, audience members might shift their perception of orchestral music from pretentious and academic to fun and entertaining. They will no doubt recognize some of the tunes and be able to build on their existing familiarity of the music. Musicians too appreciate familiar music. Audience members will have the opportunity to see their fellow community members performing and connecting with music on stage in a different context than how we normally view each other. Our BCO members are scientists, teachers, farmers healthcare providers, stay at home parents, students and everything in between ranging in age from 15 to 70. Our post-concert reception allows musicians and audience members to join in fellowship, breaking down the barrier between performer and spectator. From start to finish, audience members will feel comfortable learning from, connecting with and enjoying this engaging repertoire of overtures. Following the concert we will have a written survey for audience members to complete that will identify those attending a BCO concert for the first time and if the fact that it was a open to the public with no admission charge made a difference in their attendance. We hope to have a minimum of 10% our audience be attending for the first time. We will also solicit ideas for future possible programs. As always, we will do a post concert evaluation from our orchestra members to identify if the variety of music was of interest, if the difficulty was appropriate yet challenging and if they have other feedback to provide ot our staff or board. ; We will use member feedback, audience size and audience comments to evaluate success. Audience members will be surveyed after the concert during our post-concert reception. Please see the attached sample survey. Orchestra members will be informally evaluated using a quick poll at our next rehearsal after the concert to assess the value they got out of the performance cycle on metrics such as music selection and the rehearsal and concert experiences. We will use a fun and enjoyable format with a dot sticker and flip chart for members to choose their favorite piece that we played and to rate the rehearsal and concert experience. ; We issue tickets (senior, adult, youth) to visitors as they enter and collect those a few moments later as they enter the auditorium. Comments are gathered during the post concert reception.