Outreach Programme of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra
The programme was launched in 2008 and was further developed during the following years in order for the musicians of the Orchestra to reach out to the civil society all over Cyprus. They perform in squares, community and municipal open theatres and cultural centres, schools, various institutions, health and elderly care centres, etc, thus bringing the joy of orchestral music closer to every Cyprus resident or visitor. Aiming at both entertainment and raising orchestral music appreciation and awareness, the programme is composed of popular classics, film music, light orchestral music, orchestrated art or folk songs and dances and jazz music. At the beginning of such concerts there is often a brief presentation by the conductor. Community outreach concerts have free entrance and take place in collaboration with all the communities, municipalities and institutions involved.
The programme contributes to access and participation in cultural activities by providing free concerts to a broad audience, including civil society in rural areas, thus promoting cultural decentralization and fostering sustainability in local communities.
i. Increase the visibility of the orchestra
ii. appreciation of orchestral music
iii. audience development
iv. social cohesion and social integration
v. promotion of cultural tourism
€20.000 euro per year for about 15 concerts
The efficiency and the outreach of the programme were evaluated at a national level in terms of the number of concerts organized and the members of audiences reached. It resulted that with about 15 concerts per Artistic Season the orchestra approaches new and existing audiences all over Cyprus (about 5000-7000 people).