Curated by Takyrah Anderson
Tell us your name and the name of the project or initiative you are involved with.
My name is Charles Cozens and I am with the Burlington New Millennium Orchestra (BNMO).
What have you most loved and appreciated about the community project/initiative that you are involved in?
With the BNMO, I have been able to provide professional high quality concerts to the greater Burlington locale contributing to arts and culture awareness in Burlington.
“All of this helps to place Burlington on the map as a place to go for great music and entertainment,”
What is your connection to the project/initiative, and why is it so important to you?
I am the founder and conductor of the BNMO. The BNMO provides a high level of professionalism in the arts and culture sector in Burlington. Further as a composer and arranger, the BNMO provides me with a significant creative output because many of the orchestrations that the BNMO performs are personally written by me.
Why is BNMO important to the community?
BNMO is important to the community because it presents high-calibre orchestral concerts right here in Burlington. Our concerts have a broad spectrum of genres ranging from Classical to Pops and Jazz and Rock. The BNMO has also completed its first recording and video production in conjunction with the famous jazz/pop a cappella choir “Countermeasure.” The production has been getting wonderful reviews. All of this helps to place Burlington on the map as a place to go for great music and entertainment.
What impact does BNMO have on the community and its participants?
BNMO creates compelling concerts that are "out of the box" and have a profound effect on audience members. For example, one of our concerts in 2023 was Prodigiem which showcased 9 child prodigies ages 8 - 18 from southern Ontario including 3 from Burlington. The audience was overwhelmed by the degree of ability of these young performers, many of whom have already achieved international recognition. The BNMO will continue in the coming seasons to create unique and compelling concerts which will be very stimulating for all audience attendees.
We also believe that the arts should be available for everyone to experience. To that end, the BNMO, working with Halton Region organizations that support the community, provides free access to our concerts to those of limited financial means.
The Burlington New Millennium Orchestra is incorporated as Not for Profit and Registered Canadian Charity #77825 7329 RR0001. Governance is established through a carefully selected and experienced Board of Directors.
Can you please tell us in more detail what BNMO can do for the community and what it has already done?
The BNMO has made a significant impact on the music scene in Burlington because of its unique and compelling high-calibre concerts. Our audience base of course is in Burlington, but we have been attracting patrons from surrounding areas including Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara Falls and Buffalo. As we continue to build our brand, the BNMO will contribute to the development and growth of arts and culture in Burlington.
What is happening through the project/initiative that you would like to see more of?
We currently do 2 concerts per year, and we would like to expand that to 4 concerts per year.
What preparations take place to ensure the events happen?
Many factors are required for a concert. Lots of promotion, advertising and social media are required. Sponsorship in the form of donations and grants is crucial to offset the costs of each concert. Determining the date for performance well ahead of time is necessary at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. Planning the music programming for 2 seasons in advance and many more preparations are required to ensure the success of any given concert.
“In addition, more community awareness is beneficial to fostering the development and growth of arts and culture in Burlington,”
What would you like to see happen next for the project/initiative?
Increase our community awareness and increase audience attendance.
Why do you want more community awareness and audience attendance?
The BNMO is a professional orchestra with a collective bargaining agreement with the American/Canadian Federation of Musicians. The cost of our concerts is substantial when you factor in orchestral musician's fees, guest artist's fees, venue rental and promotion and advertising. More community awareness will result in more ticket sales to help offset the cost of presenting concerts. In addition, more community awareness is beneficial to fostering the development and growth of arts and culture in Burlington.
What would you want or need from the community to make your next steps successful?
More sponsorship from granting bodies will help us to achieve our objectives.
If all those good things happened, what could be made possible in our community that wasn’t possible before?
If we were to increase our concerts to 4 per year it would:
Provide more employment for professional musicians,
Provide more high-quality entertainment in the Burlington locale,
Help us to build our brand, and
Help us to create more community awareness, thereby increasing our community outreach.
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What would happen if we celebrated what is strong in Halton?
Community Development Halton is interested in sharing the news of individuals, groups and organizations that are strength based, working at the edges and the middle of issues of community well-being, social justice and community building in Halton.
If you are interested in sharing your story, please head to the following LINK. We are excited to hear from you!
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