First off, many thanks to everyone who viewed my last post. I never know what to expect, but I’m so happy to report that we had 204, up exponentially from my first post which had 4 views! The one thing all of you can do is click on “follow” so that you can get an email whenever I post a blog. Then you’ll be completely up to date on everything we’re doing and the philosophy behind us.
I’m starting to work on my next longer post, but I wanted to update our activities for this month.
Starting an orchestra is no small venture, and much larger when you add the educational element. So, we’re launching our first Kickstarter fundraiser in the next month or so to raise about $14,000 which will fund our website, pay rent for our office space at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts, pay legal fees for our non-profit incorporation, purchase music for our premiere concert (as yet unscheduled but hoping to premiere next summer) and engage a composer for a commission.
The Kickstarter will be in our style: fun, musical, outreach to our “audience” (people on the street), and educational. We’ll present our mission statement through our name (Commonwealth Orchestra Outreach Project), and you’ll learn our goals by the questions we answer of live “person-on-the-street” interviews in downtown Lowell. We’ll also do some interviews with students at the String Project at U.Mass Lowell to get their feedback on how important it is to link community and music education. The rest of the video will be talking heads, making the pitch, Kickstarter style.
If anyone wants to be a person on the street, let me know: lucindajellert@gmail.com. If anyone wants to just stand under the tent at one of the busker spots in Lowell and be a musician for ballyhoo, or hand out flyers explaining the project, likewise, let me know. We’re planning on getting sometime in the next four weekends — exact date and time tba.
Looking forward to hearing from some of you!
Commonwealth Orchestra Outreach Project 