Helping musicians get through Covid-19

by Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra in Reading, England, United Kingdom

We did it
On 31st May 2020 we successfully raised £15,643 ( + est. £2930.75 Gift Aid ) with 234 supporters in 36 days

To help self-employed classical musicians, who have very limited income due to Covid-19, by paying them now for a future concert in Reading.

by Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra in Reading, England, United Kingdom

Aldworth Philharmonic Orchestra

13th September 2021

Let us know if you haven't received an email detailing how to claim your tickets for APO: The Professionals

I wanted to take a few paragraphs to explain some problems we've had getting hold of some of you to check whether you want to take up the reward tickets to which you're entitled.

The crowdfunder site is pretty well designed, but there was an easy error trap which meant that some people selected to make a donation to the value of a reward level, but without claiming the reward. As such, we have a lot of backers listed as 'donation only'. What makes life doubly hard is that because these backers didn't claim a reward, they weren't required to enter an email address at which we could get hold of them to claim their reward.

We're obviously very keen that everyone who intended to claim reward tickets is able to do so. So over the course of a couple of weeks last August and September, the team used the message function on the crowdfunder website dashboard to get in touch with all the 'donation only' backers who'd donated £20 or above (the threshold for claiming at least one ticket).

We have problems enough with our own 'apo.org.uk' domain emails landing in spam/junk/sub folders, but when emails are received from the crowdfunder website with 'direct messages', it seems it's even worse. However, several backers did get back to us confirming that they meant to select the reward tickets and they've all been emailed the details, over the weekend.

By posting this general update (the email notification for which might have better luck) and linking it to our social media, we're hoping to reach more backers who are keen to claim their tickets and join us on Saturday 25th September for APO: The Professionals. So:

Please let us know if you think you're entitled to tickets via the crowdfunder, but haven't received details of how to claim them. You can email us here.

Rewards

This project offers rewards in return for your donation. Please select a reward below.

£200 or more

11 of 72 claimed

Sponsor a player

As per pre-concert talk, but with a total of four tickets and your name in the programme as having sponsored a specific position in the orchestra (e.g. principal oboe, or outside 3rd desk of second violins)

£10 or more

General donation (no ticket/s)

Donate whatever you like to the project, without any reward - just because it's A Good Thing. Please note that this is the only reward for which Gift Aid can be claimed, because the other levels offer a ticket. If you wish for your reward to include a ticket/tickets, please select a different reward.

£20 or more

General admission

General admission x 1 (unreserved seating) including a concert programme

£25 or more

Speedy boarding (stalls)

As per general admission, but with a head start for getting the best seats in the unreserved stalls through being able to enter the venue 15 minutes before general admission.

£30 or more

Speedy boarding (balcony)

As per general admission, but with a head start for getting the best seats in the unreserved balcony through being able to enter the venue 15 minutes before general admission.

£35 or more

6 of 50 claimed

Pre-concert talk (with speedier boarding)

As per speedy board (balcony), but with an even bigger head start thanks to an invitation to a fascinating pre-concert talk in the hall at 6pm.

£40 or more

General admission x 2

The same as the general admission level - except for 2 tickets.

£50 or more

Speedy boarding (stalls) x 2

As per speedy boarding (stalls) reward level, but with 2 tickets.

£60 or more

Speedy boarding (balcony) x 2

As per speedy boarding (balcony) reward level, but with 2 tickets

£70 or more

Pre-Concert Talk x 2

As per pre-concert talk level, but with 2 tickets.

£100 or more

4 of 10 claimed

Private online recital (15 minutes)

As per pre-concert talk, but with the additional ticket, and an exclusive 15-minute online recital from one of our amazing professional musicians, to which you can invite up to ten other viewers)

£150 or more

1 of 3 claimed

Conduct APO in rehearsal

This reward offers a pair of tickets with speedy boarding (in either the stalls or balcony), entry into the pre-concert talk and the chance to conduct APO for 15 minutes (please note this is a different orchestra to the one performing this concert - see www.apo.org.uk) in one of their future rehearsals, including a short preparatory conducting lesson with music director, Andrew Taylor.

£1,500 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Choose the second half piece/symphony

As per pre-concert talk, but with a total of 50 tickets and the opportunity to choose which symphony/second-half work the orchestra performs (from a list supplied by the orchestra)

£300 or more

1 of 1 claimed

Choose the encore!

As per pre-concert talk, but with a total of 10 tickets and the opportunity to choose which encore the orchestra performs (from a list of pieces lasting 2-5 minutes, supplied by the orchestra in advance).

£500 or more

1 of 1 claimed

Choose the opener

As per pre-concert talk, but with a total of 20 tickets and the opportunity to choose which opening piece the orchestra performs (from a list of pieces lasting 5-15 minutes, supplied by the orchestra in advance).

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