BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA SIR,—In your issue of April 3 you
published an article entitled 'Bournemouth on a Shoestring,' by Mr. David Cairns. A statement made in the article con- cerning the part played by a 'few rich patrons' in the establishment of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra may have created a wrong impression.
In 1954, at the time Bournemouth Corporation dis- banded the Municipal Orchestra, there was in exis- tence an organisation called the Winter Gardens Society, consisting of approximately 1,800 ordinary concert-goers and music-lovers in Bournemouth who had formed themselves into a supporters' club for the Municipal Orchestra.
On the decision being taken to disband the Munici- pal Orchestra this Society appealed to its members, and undertook to pay the musicians the difference between the salaries they had been receiving from Bournemouth Corporation and the new amount claimed by the Musicians' Union, in order to enable the Orchestra to continue in being and fulfil the nor- mal summer concert series of the Bournemouth season. The Executive Committee of the Winter Gardens Society then approached the Arts Council of Great Britain and Bournemouth Corporation, and consultations went on throughout the summer months in an attempt to ensure that a symphony orchestra remained in Bournemouth.
The outcome of these discussions was a decision by Bournemouth Corporation to make an annual grant of £12,500, and by the Arts Council to make an initial grant of £9,000, and a company known as The Western Orchestral Society Limited was formed to assume responsibility for the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and to manage its affairs.
These cold facts do not give any indication of the, enormous amount of hard work and perseverance that was put in by a number of ordinary music-lovers and, whilst it is true that the Orchestra's salaries were made up every week through the generosity of the members of the Winter Gardens Society, it should be emphas- ised that in the main the total amount of money was raised by many small sums rather than by large contributions from 'a few rich patrons.' Subsequently for two years the. Winter Gardens Society con- tributed a grant of £2,000 per annum to the Western Orchestral Society Limited. The Winter Gardens Society then decided to disband and to hand over to the Western Orchestral Society Limited all its assets, including many deeds of covenant.
The article possibly does not fairly represent the
financial support which has been given by the Arts Council, commencing with £5,000 in the year 1954-55, £8,000 in 1955-56, £12,000 in 1956-57. In July, 1957, an Industrial Disputes Tribunal award granted to members of the Musicians' Union in symphony orchestras a pay increase which, in a full year, added £8,500 to the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra's expenditure. Towards this the Arts Council gave a supplementary grant of £3,000, making a total for 1957:58 of £15,000. In 1958-59 the grant was increased to £20,000, which it is at present.
Unfortunately, the Western Orchestral Society Limited has had a deficit on its working each year, but this has been met by means of a competition which the Society organised in 1956 and which, through the generosity of an industrial concern in providing staff and facilities, resulted in the Society accruing funds which have enabled it, to date, to cover these deficits. It is unlikely that the competition could be repeated but, in any case, it was embarked upon in the hope that it would give the Society time to organise a long-term scheme for regional municipal support of the Orchestra. As a result of three conferences of local authorities convened by the Arts Council, at the request of the Society, the Regional Scheme is now being developed.—Yours faithfully,
KENNETH MATCHETT General Manager and Secretary Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Westover Mansions, Gervis Place, Bournemouth
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