THE ORCHESTRA SOCIETY OF CALGARY
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Mission Statement
CALGARY CIVIC SYMPHONY - Playing and sharing great music with great people for all people.
About This Cause
Background: The Calgary Civic Symphony is the “operating name” of The Orchestra Society of Calgary, which is a registered charity and was incorporated as an Alberta not-for-profit society on February 16, 1976. The Orchestra subsequently played its inaugural concert in May of 1976. The Calgary Civic Symphony (CCS) has gone on to entertain Calgarians for over 45 years. Begun as a vehicle for non-professional or retired musicians to play orchestral music, the CCS has grown steadily in both numbers and artistic excellence. The CCS presents a series of 5 concerts annually, ranging in genre from major classical works to pop, film, and Christmas favourites. In 2006, the CCS committed its entire season to the Jack Singer Concert Hall, and since that time all concerts are held in the centre of the city at Calgary’s premier concert venue. Concerts are held on Sunday afternoons, at an affordable price, making them widely accessible. The Calgary Civic Symphony’s blend of quality, volunteer enthusiasm, and expert guidance creates a popular entertainment choice. Artistic Directors/Conductors Although the CCS is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization, it is led by a small core of professional musicians and over the years the Orchestra has performed under the baton of well-qualified conductors. Our highly acclaimed Artistic Director/Conductor Rolf Bertsch initially led the Orchestra between 1998 and 2002 and subsequently returned in 2009 and has led the Orchestra as Artistic Director and Conductor since that time. Rolf is a former resident conductor of the Calgary Philharmonic and former conductor in residence of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. His inspiring programming, engaging style, and unique ability to build bridges has often been remarked upon by our players and audiences alike. As noted above, the Orchestra has undergone a significant artistic growth during the period since 1994. Maestro Bertsch continues to challenge Orchestra members to grow and enhance their musical knowledge and performance skills; while also encouraging the audience to grow in understanding and appreciation of a broad and varied repertoire. Musical Collaboration: The orchestra features the best of area soloists and collaborates with other volunteer musical organizations, such as The Festival Chorus, Calgary Concert Opera, Cowtown Opera, Mount Royal Kantorei, Cum Vino Cantus, Cantaré Children’s Choir, and Calgary Girls’ Choir. It works closely with the Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition to foster the development of Alberta’s young talent by presenting the winners of the Rotary C3 in concert with the Orchestra. Our Orchestral Home: The early history of the Society saw the Orchestra playing in churches and other locations within the Community, eventually moving to the University of Calgary and then to the Jack Singer Concert Hall at Arts Commons. In the spring of 2017, the Orchestra was approached by Arts Commons and offered the use of the Jack Singer Rehearsal Hall on an ongoing basis. That was combined with a far more convenient instrument storage area and an improved music library space. Because the offer did not increase the costs to the orchestra, the move was made effective the beginning of September in 2017. The Orchestra now holds its rehearsals in the Jack Singer Rehearsal Hall, and plays its concerts in the Jack Singer Concert Hall. The Civic in the Community: Throughout its history, the Orchestra Society of Calgary has sought to nurture relationships within the community, and the most significant of these is what was originally known as the Calgary Concerto Competition (C3). Each year, the Civic receives numerous requests to support other not-for-profit and charitable organizations through donations to raffles and silent auctions. We normally provide two pairs of season tickets to the current or upcoming season for each of the requesting organizations. Beginning with our first concert of the 2021 - 2022 Season, the Civic began live-streaming our concerts to pre-registered viewers including some seniors residences. In September of 2016, the Orchestra participated in Alberta Culture Days for the first time. The Orchestra offered its first free educational interactive production in conjunction with “Build an Orchestra”. Families were invited to come and meet the musicians and see the instruments up close. Children were given an “orchestra map” on which they could paste stickers depicting each of the orchestra sections and instruments. That exercise was followed by a short concert during which people sat “inside” the orchestra. The event was staged at no charge to the attendees. We also use our “Members” and “Patrons” newsletters to inform our supporters about the events being put on in the community by other musical organizations. During the past season that included The Calgary Wind Symphony, The Calgary Salon Series and The Calgary Community String Orchestra. Rotary Calgary Concerto Competition: In 1981, the Orchestra Society of Calgary began working in close cooperation with the Alberta Registered Music Teachers Association (Calgary Branch) and the Calgary Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild to operate the Calgary Concerto Competition (C3). The Rotary C3 is open to amateur piano and instrumental students who are 18 years of age or younger on January 1st of the competition year. This yearly event provides a maximum of four winners with performance and rehearsal time with the Calgary Civic Symphony. The winners are selected based on their ability to perform with orchestra, their musicianship and personal involvement in the community. Winners must demonstrate a high standard of performance. Each year since 1994 the Civic Symphony’s “Rising Stars” concert at the Jack Singer Concert Hall features the young winners of the Rotary C3 competition. Governance: Since its founding, the Orchestra Society of Calgary has been led by a volunteer board consisting of musicians who also play in the orchestra. Historically the Board of Directors has operated as an “administrative” board with all the managerial duties and responsibilities assumed by the Board members. Over the past several years three things have happened in that regard. First, it had become increasingly clear that there was a small group of musicians who were prepared to give the extra time required to both lead and manage the orchestra, but that it was increasingly difficult to attract new Board members prepared to give that time. Second, and partly in response to the first development, in the summer of 2016 the Board made the decision to hire an executive director who would be able to assume managerial responsibilities and work with the Board to change the governance model. Third, in the spring of 2017 the bylaws of the Orchestra Society were amended to provide for the election to the Board of public members with a demonstrated interest in working with and promoting the interests and objectives of the Society. These public members were required to purchase membership in the society – as do Orchestra members – to enable participation on the Board. Volunteering: The Civic simply would not be here without the huge volunteer commitment from our musicians and a small group of dedicated front-of-house volunteers for each concert. As noted above, our musicians are non-professionals, and each one pays an annual fee to participate in the Orchestra. Our musicians and our front-of-house volunteers combine to donate a total of 20,248 hours to the support, preparation and presentation of our five annual concerts. Of that total amount, individual practice, rehearsals and performing total 19,143 hours each year. Front-of-house support consumes an additional 100 hours per year. Orchestra fundraising activities consume more than 300 hours each year. We know that casino volunteering consumes approximately 290 hours; but that does not include any member involvement in selling raffle tickets or organizing other fundraising events. Finally, governance activities by orchestra members has taken another 709 hours per year. Audience: Our “Patrons” mailing list contains more than 1,600 subscribers with whom we communicate between five and ten times per year. Communications generally occur in the form of a newsletter that contains information about both Civic events and events of other community-based arts organizations. We also include articles about composers and performers or works that the Orchestra will be playing in upcoming concerts. We also use the newsletter to provide links to other information and periodically to audience surveys. We planned to conduct an extensive audience survey in2019 - 2020 season, but those plans were stopped by the pandemic. Our concert audiences average between 800 and 1,000 patrons at each performance and our largest audience came close to selling out the Jack Singer (approximately 1,700 seats). Our 2019 – 2020 Season was truncated due to the Covid-19 pandemic but had started as our best season ever with approximately 1,100 patrons at each of our first three concerts. Financial: For the 2018 – 2019 concert year, the total annual budget for the Civic wa just under $200,000 of which our largest single expenditure is for concerts approximately $88,000 based on a 4-year average concert cost of $17,600. Our average revenue per concert is approximately $14,000, meaning that each concert is subsidized by other sources of funds. Historically our funding has come from the following sources: • Box Office - 36.7% • Casino - 30.5% • Grants - 13.0% • Membership - 8.7% • Donations - 8.0% • Other - 3.1% (Raffles etc.) Our Box Office, Casino and membership revenues have remained relatively stable over time, although we have been developing a new focus on marketing with a view to increasing the number of audience members. Casino revenues have been reducing largely due to lack of casino availability.