Dear all:
Two pieces of really good news:

1.  The Canada Council has confirmed that Orchestras Canada will receive flow-through funding to help get the managers of smaller budget* orchestras to the National Orchestras Meetings in Vancouver in June.  We have a total of $25,000 to allocate, and eligible orchestras may request between $400 and $1800 from this fund to assist with the costs of travel, accommodation and registration.

*smaller budget = annual revenues of $2 million and less in the 2009-10 fiscal year.  Requests from larger budget orchestras will be considered if there are extenuating circumstances.

AND

2.  The Orchestras Canada board of directors has authorized the use of up to $10,000 from our strategic fund to provide scholarships to assist orchestras of any size to bring a second member of staff to the National Orchestra Meetings.

Our priority will be to maximize the number of orchestras that will benefit from the funding, AND provide planning certainty to those who act quickly.  If you are planning to attend the meetings, and need support to do so – let us know right away!

Current members of the board of Orchestras Canada are NOT eligible to apply for scholarship support for themselves; however, they may apply for support to bring an additional staff person from their orchestra.

You may be tired of completing funding applications, but we’ve done our best to keep this simple.

Here’s the application process for either form of subsidy.

NO LATER THAN APRIL 8:

• email me a note confirming your organization’s interest in sending someone to the meetings, indicating that you need support to do so, and identifying the “someone” and attach a budget, using a template; AND
• register on-line, here:  http://orchestrascanada.org/vancouver-2011-2/registration/

You can request an invoice for the registration fee, or you can pay by credit card through PayPal.  If you go for the invoice option, you will be emailed an invoice shortly after completing your registration.

Before you calculate your travel costs, I’ll also remind you that we have arranged discount codes through both WestJet and Air Canada.  You can find these, here:

http://orchestrascanada.org/vancouver-2011-2/travel/

I’ll also urge you to book your rooms at the Carmana Plaza as soon as possible. The final deadline for booking rooms at the Carmana Plaza Hotel at our negotiated rates is April 11.  After that date, any unbooked rooms go back into hotel inventory:  as the supply is very limited at the rates quoted, we cannot guarantee access to the rooms after this date.

Here’s a link to the hotel booking information on our website:

http://orchestrascanada.org/vancouver-2011-2/hotel/

Let me know if you have any questions.

I’m really looking forward to seeing you in Vancouver in June, and I know you’ll join me in thanking the Canada Council for the Arts for its generous support!