The Ontario Philharmonic is one of the finest orchestras in the country. Thousands of patrons attend its concerts each season.
The orchestra's success results from the efforts of many people. While the music director and musicians are the most visible, at least an equal number of dedicated people work behind the scenes to make sure that the concerts are a success and that the OP has the support, money and resources it needs to continue to excel.
The OP benefits from volunteers of all ages, whose gift of time, energy and skill help to provide Durham Region and the surrounding area with find musical performances throughout the year. Young people can apply this volunteer service to their high-school requirements, while adults of all ages find rewarding activities that benefit Durham's arts community.
Volunteer roles include (but are not necessarily limited to) the following:
- Children's Concerts
- Concert Support (parking, ushers)
- Fund-raising
- Distribution of program booklets, brochures and other publicity materials
- Raffles
- Refreshments at Intermission
- Stage (assembly and takedown)
- Telephone campaigns
- Ticket sales at concerts
- Other roles as needed
Children's Concerts:
- Inside: Children's concerts are held each year to expose young people to the magic of the symphony orchestra. Volunteers attend the special children's concerts (held during school days), and help to seat the children, collect tickets, and work with OP staff and teachers to ensure an orderly, educational and enjoyable concert.
- Outside: Volunteers also act as parking lot attendants to ensure the orderly flow of about 40 buses arriving and departing in a 15-minute time span.
Concert Support:
- Parking: Parking at the concert venues is often at a premium. Volunteers assist patrons with finding parking spaces and help to ensure that all parking spaces are used as efficiently as possible.
- Usher Directors: Usher Directors oversee young people who act as ushers, ensuring that they perform their duties politely and properly, assisting them should things become too busy for the number of ushers on duty, and solving any problems that may arise (or contacting someone in authority should it be necessary to do so).
- Ushers: ushers greet people at the door to the concert hall, take tickets and return stubs, provide concert programs, and remain just inside the doors during concert performances to ensure that latecomers do not disturb seated patrons. They can help latecomers to find seats during a suitable break in the performance.
- Crew: Volunteers support stage activities. For example, they may be asked to move chairs, musical instruments, etc., between performance pieces.
Fund-Raising Events:
Each year the OP undertakes a major fund-raising activity. Volunteers are crucial to these activities.
- Planning and Preparation: Volunteers arrange for venues and event refreshments, as well as activities such as silent auctions, musical performances, etc.
- Event Support: Other volunteers sell or collect tickets (and are sometimes responsible for money and credit card materials), serve refreshments, provide information and assistance to people attending the event, etc.
- Refreshments: As at the concerts themselves, volunteers bake (or purchase and donate) refreshments (sandwiches, finger-foods, pickles, brownies, cookies, etc.) for those attending the event.
Distribution:
Distribution of Programme booklets, brochures and other publicity materials:
- Distribution: Volunteers able to visit key sites around Durham Region are asked to distribute programme booklets, brochures and other publicity materials to appropriate venues such as libraries, town halls, community centres, seniors' facilities, plazas, etc. Locations include downtown Oshawa, Clarington, Whitby, Ajax, Pickering, Port Perry and Scarborough.
Raffles:
- Sales: Raffles are another important fund-raiser for the ODSO. Volunteers support the raffles by selling tickets at plazas, malls and other appropriate public places, and are appropriately accountable for the money raised.
- Planning: Volunteers also support the planning, organization and implementation of fund-raising raffles (where tickets will be sold, advertising, printing, etc.).
Refreshments:
- Volunteers with appropriate skills prepare (or purchase and donate) baked goods for concert patrons during the intermission.
- Other volunteers prepare and serve coffee, soft drinks and refreshments during the intermission at each concert.
- These volunteers also clean up after the intermission at each concert.
Stage Assembly and Removal:
- Stages at concert venues, in some instances, may be insufficient for the entire orchestra. To compensate, stages or stage extensions are used. Volunteers assemble and remove the stage (or stage extension, depending on the hall) before and after each concert.
Telephone Campaigns:
- Routine: Volunteers often telephone current and previous subscribers (or from other lists as appropriate) to support ticket sales or fund-raising efforts on behalf of the OP.
- Special Events: Volunteers provide telephone support for special ventures such as special fund-raising events and concerts.
Tickets:
- Sales: Volunteers sell tickets at the venue prior to the start of each concert, and are accountable for cash and credit card invoices as needed.
Other / Miscellaneous:
- The musicians, staff and volunteers that make up the Ontario Philharmonic are a very dynamic group of people that undertake a wide variety of fund-raising and community activities. Accordingly, some volunteer activities will be ad hoc or new events that cannot be predicted at this time.
Coordination and Support:
- Volunteer activities undertaken on behalf of the OP are coordinated by the leaders of each event.
- One volunteer coordinator maintains volunteer lists and coordinates recruitment activities. These activities are supported by other members of the Board and activity lead
|
