Hosting SOL
Introduction
As a small music charity we are dependent on a network of informal partnerships that allow us to take orchestral music to meet people. So firstly, thank you for wanting to help us with our mission!
About Our Team: Street Orchestra Live (SOL) is run by a team of 3: our artistic director and conductor Chloe Rooke, our orchestral manager Stella di Virgilio and Craig White, who looks after planning & partnerships. When we’re on tour we also have a tour manager and a media/marketing person to help with promotion and evaluation. Our 40 players are volunteers and come from across the UK to play in our projects, for which they receive accommodation, food and their travel expenses. And as many are young or aspiring professional musicians, they not only get a chance to play great music to wonderful audiences, but they have the opportunity to arrange music for the orchestra, introduce concerts, programme our concerts, learn new musical skills like improvising, and finally – make life-long friends.
When Do We Tour?
Although we’d love to play for everyone who gets in touch (we really would!) – sadly we’re only on tour for 10-12 days each year.
Available Dates: To see where we’ll be heading next, check out our tour dates page. If we’re coming to your area, then don’t hesitate to drop us a line. If we’re not due in your area of the country any time soon, still get in touch as we do keep a record of potential partners for the future.
How We Work
We pride ourselves on being incredibly easy to work with. All we require is: permission to play in a suitable space and an audience. That’s it. Everything else – we take care of it!
About Our Tours & Projects: Each tour day usually involves 4-6 concerts, each c.45 min – 1 hour. In planning a tour schedule we strive to have a balance of socially-focused gigs (in care settings, community centres, prisons, schools etc.) and gigs in large public spaces (shopping centres, parks, tourist attractions etc.). For audiences, all our performances are free of charge.
Booking a SOL Concert: For socially-focused organisations and charities Street Orchestra Live can visit you for a nominal or in-kind contribution to our running costs. This can range from a cup of tea for our players to lunch/dinner. It’s always a big challenge feeding 45 people on the road, so the offer of something to eat is HUGELY appreciated.
For organisations which have a budget for arts/education/entertainment we would usually ask for a contribution to our other main running costs: transport and accommodation. Coach hire for a day’s touring costs c.£650, and accommodation upwards of £1000 per night. However, if your organisation does not have an applicable budget but works in education, health, criminal justice or with marginalised groups of adults or young people, then we are usually happy to visit gratis.
To help with our funding applications we may also request a letter of support.
For a more detail on the space we require, you can can download our stage plan information here: SOL Performance Plan.
Thank you for reading. If you’ve any questions simply email us: info@streetorchestra.co.uk
