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A survey-type question for the community band folks out there... how much do you pay (per year) for dues?

AFM or other?

In our area, bands do not generally require dues. Funds are generated from the concerts that they play.

Afterthought: Choruses are sometimes a different matter....a local women's barbershop chorus (they compete with the Sweet Adelines), charges about $40 a month + buying costumes, uniform jewlery,.....etc.

BVD Press wrote:AFM or other?

Other. I'm talking like straight-up community groups. Want to hear a few more answers before I share my numbers... to either confirm they are high, or make me feel better about them being high.

One of my bands is run through the school district's adult education program - fees are $20 per term, which works out to about $60 per year. There are no paid personnel.

My other band is sponsored by the city, but still collects dues of $25 per year, which includes a nicely embroidered shirt for outdoor concerts. This band has a higher operating budget since the director and assistant director are paid, as is the librarian.

They guys in my groups:

http://www.ohlonewindorchestra.org/" target="_blank
http://www.ohlonecommunityband.org/" target="_blank
http://mpbb.org/" target="_blank

pay $53 per semester.

Thanks everyone. I'm looking at $240/year (well, actually 9 months) for one group. That has always seemed pretty high.

I guess I payed about that much in another group (in another city!), but that was run as a community college course. Plus, a large amount of that money went to finance the group's Europe tours every 3 or 4 years.

Sorry, not trying to complain. Just trying to get a feel for what's "normal," and I do respect the difficulty for groups to finance themselves.

the elephant wrote:None. Ever. Anywhere. How odd. You guys PAY to play?

Must be nice!

I should reiterate though, this has always been a fact of life for me. Like the way some people play rec league softball -- not a ton of opportunities for us normal folks to begin with, but certainly a few more spots to play if you pay your dues and join a league.

I've played in two community bands and both payed it's members. The first one payed union scale and both had their budgets come from the city. The one I'm currently in has a budget of roughly $200,000 annually. A few years ago the city also paid to replace our outdoor performance venue/year round rehearsal space at a cost of around $3 million and this spring will put in new outdoor seating at a cost of $300,000. I'm going right now to vote on which of three seat options I like best. Town is about 150,000 residents. We play year round and rehearse year round on a weekly basis. The nice thing about being payed (beyond the monetary) is that we attract better players and the audition lists are very deep for any openings (unless you're an ex-DC service band member) which gets you in quickly - I think we have four.

We raise our money through gifts from the band and the community, as well as takings at the door of concerts. We also have a few items in a cafepress.com shop, but it has sold only to band members so far, and the 10% we make from each sale doesn't amount to much.

There's a provision for dues in the by-laws, at the board's discretion, but we've never made use of it.

There's a band 50 miles away that charges $125 per year. We're pretty well agreed that it's too much. But they do a lot of good stuff.

bort wrote:Thanks everyone. I'm looking at $240/year (well, actually 9 months) for one group. That has always seemed pretty high.

I guess I payed about that much in another group (in another city!), but that was run as a community college course. Plus, a large amount of that money went to finance the group's Europe tours every 3 or 4 years.

Sorry, not trying to complain. Just trying to get a feel for what's "normal," and I do respect the difficulty for groups to finance themselves.

I pay $50 a year for Lone Star and Gulf Coast does not charge dues--Both groups pay the Music Director and the associates. I'm very curious to know what do you get for paying $240 a year?

JJ

It doesn't get me much. One rehearsal per week, an odd rehearsal space, and 3 concerts.

Now I know I'm in New York, where nothing comes cheap... but maybe its time to reconsider... :/

Two bands in Naples, FL. One is 40. a season of 5 months,
another is free, sponsored by the Church. Another in Gravenhurst,Ontario is
40. as well and another is 345. only 20 miles away in Huntsville, Ontario.
Guess which one i do NOT play in...
Armin

Although I don't play in either, there are no dues for the community band or orchestra in my area.

Stefan

bort wrote:It doesn't get me much. One rehearsal per week, an odd rehearsal space, and 3 concerts.

Now I know I'm in New York, where nothing comes cheap... but maybe its time to reconsider... :/

Yes you should definitely reconsider---maybe ask how the money is being used and then determine if paying that much for dues makes sense to you.

JJ

Yep... High overhead. I know they sent out a budget sheet, and its all overhead...

Euclid Symphony Orchestra - $0
North Royalton Community Band - $25 per year, optional

Hey Bret.

Here's the dues breakdown for the groups in NYC that play or have played with:

Grand Street Comm Band $60, but I was never asked to pay it
Brooklyn Synphony $50 + $10 rental fee
Greenwich Villiage $0 - thus a tough group to get in and one the highest skilled

I would have replied earlier, but my account was mysteriously deactivated (I changed my password and email?)

Ben = ben (old me)

Ben Vokits

Oh yeah,
Never paid except for one band in the Midwest. 1 of 4 I played in.... I don't think it was more than $20 for the summer, but my parents were paying for it (and also participating)

The Crystal Lake Concert Band has three seasons a year (Fall, Spring and Summer). The dues are $15 a season or $25 for the full year. We have a $40 cap for a family. The Fall and Spring seasons typically have one concert each. This concert is in the ballroom of the local Holiday Inn and is done in the style of the Boston Pops conerts. We charge $8 to $14 a ticket and sit the audiance in rounds of 10. We do offer a discout for anyone who buys a full table. The Holiday Inn gives us a break on the ballroom since they run a Cash bar during the concert and make their money off of the bar. We usually fill the house.

During the summer season we do the normal outdoor concert thing for about 6 to 10 concerts during the summer. Normally the band gets paid by the host for the concert. We are sponsored by the local Park District so we end up doing to free concerts at the park district facaily on the lake.

A Suburband Chicago orchestra that I use to play in expected each member to donate $40 (the first donorlevel) to the orchestra each year. This sort of made it a tax deduction.

Hope this helps.