Chichester Symphony Orchestra in “fantastic” position for new term

SussexWorld

hairman Greg Slay confirms that the orchestra has got good numbers though they would be happy to welcome more – and that it has also successfully launched a new Friends scheme to consolidate and widen its audience support.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Always lovely

00:06to speak to Greg Slate, Chairman of Chichester Symphony Orchestra, and you're coming into

00:11a new term, and it's always exciting, isn't it? You've got a great programme lined up

00:14for the year ahead, and the orchestra is in a good position, isn't it?

00:20The orchestra is in a fantastic position, and I think we've spent a lot of time over

00:24the past two or three years rebuilding our orchestra fan base, but there's always much

00:29more to do, and we want to encourage people to come and hear live music being performed

00:35in city by an amateur orchestra of very high calibre.

00:39Absolutely, and you were saying, well just as it always staggers me that there are people

00:43around who've never heard of the Festival of Chichester, you were saying that there

00:46are some people who've never heard of Chichester Symphony Orchestra, and they are the people

00:50that you want to reach, aren't they?

00:52They are!

00:53As you expect from that audience.

00:54And we also want to reach those people, some of those people will be people who might have

00:59heard of the orchestra in the past and have forgotten that it still exists, they might

01:03be people who are only hearing about classical music by listening to it on the radio or watching

01:10a television programme such as the Last Night of the Promised, for example, and then wanting

01:14to find out about what's available locally in the Chichester area, and there'll be other

01:19people who, there'll be young people who are being identified and who are being encouraged

01:26to think about music in schools, not necessarily music performance in schools, but they will

01:34in some schools, of course, be people who are, you know, coming out.

01:38And also to expand that audience, but also to consolidate the key support that you have

01:43got, you have successfully introduced a Friends scheme.

01:47Yeah, we're looking forward to building up that Friends scheme as a group of supporters

01:53who will come and regularly support the orchestra and who will get a bit more of an inside track

01:59on how the orchestra operates and all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes in terms

02:04of developing the programmes for our four concerts a year and so on.

02:09And obviously orchestras were among those hit the hardest by the pandemic, but how much

02:14recovering did you have to do? You are, as you say, in a fantastic position now.

02:18We're in a fantastic position, I think, partly because the members of our orchestra, with

02:25one or two exceptions, are not employed as musicians, they've got all the other jobs,

02:32and they're doing this in their spare time as hobbies. And people are paying a membership

02:37subscription to be in the orchestra itself, so they're kind of committed for the whole

02:41year to take out their memberships. And we want to encourage more people to do that,

02:48so we've been welcoming new people coming in this term who've not played in the orchestra

02:52before but have heard of our reputation and now want to be part of that journey.

02:57Absolutely. And you say the reputation, go on then, blow the trumpet, how good is Chichester

03:02Symphony Orchestra? Well, it's the best symphony orchestra in

03:05the Chichester area, of course, I would have to say that, wouldn't I?

03:09A bit of a starting point, I should think. A bit of a starting point. I mean, I would say

03:13that it's a remarkable testament to the symphony orchestra that it has continued to operate and

03:21survive for over 125 years. That's quite something. Brilliant. Good

03:27luck with the new term. And it's kept going all the way through ever

03:34since. I mean, it's been through various iterations, but it kept going through two

03:38world wars, for example, and then on into the 21st century. So, yeah, I think it's got a great

03:46future ahead of us. Fantastic. Well, good to speak to you and

03:49good luck with the new term and with the expansion of the Friends. Thanks, Greg.

03:54Thanks, Phil.

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