New Year Update
The GBS Board would like to wish you and your families a very Happy New Year and a prosperous 2025! We hope you had a relaxing and fun festive period and are ready to immerse yourselves in the exciting music that the GBS will be putting forth for the remainder of the 2024/25 season.
Looking back
We can’t start the looking back process without noting the hiring of our Musical Director, Jeffrey Pollock, last August. We are extremely excited to have Jeff on board and it is clear for all to see that his influence (and his not-to-be-underestimated stage presence!) has been both a positive and an uplifting experience for all that interact with him. Thank you, Jeff.
More recently, we would like to take a moment to reflect on the fabulous Christmas concerts. The Board has received wonderful comments for both performances from December 14th, and we are thoroughly heartened to hear such warm words. It is a testament to the musicians’ commitment and dedication to the orchestra that the GBS is able to put on performances of such high quality. Thank you so much, musicians, for all that you do to bring music to the Georgian Bay area.
A few samples of audience feedback:
“Best Christmas concert in many years; refreshing accessible and fun.”
“What a great performance…! Thank you for the spectacular memories with our family. They can’t stop talking about the piece called “Christmas Story”
“It was my first and it won’t be my last. Fantastic!”
We had our largest number of ‘bums on seats’ for the Family concert – approx. 350 – and we are grateful to the Eva Leflar Foundation and to RBC for their generous contributions (both $ and volunteers) to allow us to stage the event. We would also like to give our sincere thanks to the Kepple Sarawak School Choir and the Roxy Young Company for their performances which garnered such a positive response. That bodes very well for the future of youth musical arts in Owen Sound and the wider Georgian Bay area.
The evening concert was equally successful with 618 tickets sold (an increase of 58 tickets over last year). These results bring us very close to the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019. This is an outcome which reflects all the deep support the GBS has from everyone involved. You, our subscribers, are a very large and important part of that and we are grateful for your continued support.
Thanks to Betty Adair and her helpers for pulling together such a delicious basked of festive goodies for the Christmas raffle.
Looking forward
Our Family Day concert is on Saturday February 15th at 3pm, and the theme is “Movie Music Madness!!”. We hope you will be filled with nostalgia with music from James Bond, Out of Africa, and Apocalypse Now, get all patriotic with Celine Dion’s blockbuster hit from Titanic, and imagine the fantastic with themes from Lord of the Rings, and Jurassic Park. More recently, our February concert has showcased how classically inspired music has become mainstream, often through the medium of movies, and the GBS is very excited to bring these pieces to life in 2025.
We would like to put on a raffle for this concert so if you have items that you would like to donate, please let the GBS office/David Adair know by Feb 12th. The raffle is a great way for everyone to participate and, in the words of that great 1990’s philosopher, Forrest Gump, “you never know what you’re gonna get!
Other matters
We would like to appeal to anyone who would be willing to volunteer at GBS concerts for the rest of this season. It is often very hard to find folks who can help out, and Nancy MacDonald and Sandy Stephenson have to work hard to ensure we can put on all the interval activities we are accustomed to. High school students need volunteer hours and the GBS is an excellent way to meet that requirement and have fun at the same time. Please spread the word to anyone who you think might be interested.
And finally……
The Board is very much looking forward to the remainder of the 2024/25 season and beyond. Thank you again for your heartfelt support and enthusiasm for the GBS, its musicians, and our wider community. We hope to see you all in 2025!
Warm regards,
The GBS Board
Music You Love Played By The People You Know
תגובות