From time to time I have been asked how we find these artists or how we plan a season? Recently an audience member asked the same question and added the suggestion that I write to you about it. So here goes.
We have a nine-member board of committed and enthusiastic people filling various roles. The actual planning of the season is in the hands of a three-person committee that is chaired by me and includes Emma Sweeney, our vice president, and Peter Goertzen. We operate within the parameters defined by the society’s mission, by the way our audience responds to the concerts, and by hard reality. We report to the board, and we seek their guidance or agreement when a situation stretches those parameters a little. They also offer suggestions for our consideration.
Planning is a balancing act. We have to balance cost. An expensive artist means we need to find another who will not cost so much. Big names cost a lot of money, but, as you have observed, there is a great deal of talent that is not so well known but still brings a wonderful program.
We have to balance time. We need to fill out a season that stretches from early fall to mid-spring. That means finding artists who are available when we have space in our season schedule and when our venue is available. We cannot have two programs too close together. The smallest gap that we have had recently is three weeks between concerts. More than once, we have been unable to bring someone because we already had another artist booked in that time period.
We have to balance musical variety. We are not like the societies in Vancouver. One brings only pianists. Another brings chamber music—mainly duos, trios, and quartets involving strings and sometimes pianos. Another specializes in early music—Renaissance and Baroque. If you want vocal music, you go to one of the choirs or to the opera. The population of a big city is enough to allow this kind of specialization. We try to find a variety that crosses these categories.
When do we plan? Each new season must be fully planned by at least February, if not earlier. That deadline is created by the need to have all the publicity ready and printed in time for the final concert of the season. The bulk of the work is done in the fall prior to the season being planned, in other words, right now. However, that can stretch out considerably. Currently we are engaged in two conversations for the 2026-27 season.
I will send Part 2 of this discussion next week when I address the question of where we find the musicians.
John Wiebe - President
The Valley Concert Society