The Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO) has been awarded Community Relations of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras (ICO) in recognition of two programs launched in their 2021-22 season.
Presented annually, these awards recognize excellence in the field of music performance and for the support of musical organizations. The awards panel of judges are drawn from the Illinois Council of Orchestras Board of Directors and independent professional conductors and musicians, according to a Thursday QCSO release.
This is the second consecutive year that the ICO has recognized the QCSO, naming it Professional Orchestra of the Year for their 2020-21 season.
To fulfill their essential goals of opening community access to the QCSO and engaging with the entire community, the QCSO introduced Concert Access Pass (CAP) and Promo Partners for the 2021-2022 performance season.
CAP connects individuals and families served by partnered community organizations to all QCSO concerts for free. This program strives to offer all Quad Citizens the opportunity to experience the unique power of music to build connections with others and transform lives.
“It’s been really great to partner with all these various nonprofits doing a lot of great work in the community and giving them another thing to offer to the people that they serve,” orchestra executive director Brian Baxter said Thursday. “It’s generally the feeling that they and everyone in the community belongs in our concerts. So that’s a big part of it. There’s obviously room for growth, I’d say in the number of tickets we can get out there. But it’s off to a good start.”
Individuals receiving services or assistance from participating CAP Partner Organizations are eligible to receive up to four free tickets to all QCSO concerts.
The QCSO’s current CAP Partner Organizations include:
During the 2021-2022 performance season, 122 tickets were distributed through the CAP program.
Promo Partners
Promo Partners was introduced as a way for the QCSO to offer visibility and financial support for area community organizations through ticket purchase give-back donations. Each organization receives a unique promo code for a QCSO performance, and 50% of all ticket proceeds using that code are donated directly back to the partner.
Each organization is also offered the opportunity to promote their organization and its mission in person. Last year’s give-back donations totaled $653, an amount that has already increased by nearly 50% for the 2022-2023 season.
“We plan to continue that program. It’s been really successful and it generates a lot of interest in our concert programs and it generates new ticket purchasers who are really passionate about the particular nonprofit and they’re like, this is a chance for me to check out the orchestra and also support this nonprofit that I’m involved in or I’m a donor for,” Baxter said.
“I think it’s a really effective way to further connect X, Y or Z concert program that we’re doing,” he said, noting the Promo Partners are for Masterworks concerts and they may be different for the next season.
The Promo Partners for the 2021-2022 season included:
Getting back-to-back awards from Illinois Council of Orchestras is thrilling, Baxter said.
“They both mean a lot. I wouldn’t characterize them as being in competition as far as one being more important than the other — I would say that it’s just sort of further proof of the quality of what we’re doing right here in the Quad Cities,” he said. “Both the quality and the programming of our orchestra, as well as our work to connect that quality and that concert experience to the whole community.
“I think it’s kind of nice that we have these two back to back, kind of emphasizing two different things,” Baxter said. “The important thing to note with both of them is there’s nobody on those panels that’s from the Quad Cities as far as I know. So this is really recognition from outside the community of the great work we’re doing here.”
Earlier this year, the QCSO also won an award from the Iowa Governor’s Arts Awards (from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs). The QCSO earned a special recognition in the Arts Learning category. That honors an individual or organization that has increased access to arts learning experiences or enhanced arts learning outcomes for K-12 students in a significant or unique way over the award period (July 1, 2020, to November 1, 2022).
For more information on the QCSO, visit its website HERE.
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