Orchestra Kentucky

ORCHESTRA KENTUCKY!!!

A Brief History of the BGCO

The BGCO was founded in the summer of 2000 with no funds and just a vision of two friends, Jeff Reed and Mike Thurman. Both are musicians and saw the need in the Bowling Green community for an orchestra of professionals. They contacted several friends, some who were musicians, some not, and met several times to discuss the possibility of starting an orchestra. Those friends were Duncan McKenzie, Evan Walters, Chuck and Janet Smith, and Greg and Helen Motter. The decision was made to organize and start an orchestra with Jeff Reed as music director. Mike was elected president, Chuck was elected treasurer, and Helen secretary.

Local musicians were contacted, and rehearsed every Monday evening for several weeks at Royal Music Company before the first concert on September 11, 2000. The first concert was presented at Christ Episcopal Church in Bowling Green. Approximately 150 people attended the concert, which included music of Wagner, Handel and Mozart. Two businesses contributed enough money to get the group started (Republic Bank and Jim Johnson), but several musicians agreed to play without being paid. Enough funding was found to take the group through the first season, a constitution was written, the orchestra was incorporated, 501(c)(3) status was obtained, goals were set and the BGCO was on its way.

A milestone in the orchestra’s history was the decision to present a rock band and vocalist with the orchestra. Jeff organized a group of local rock musicians, later named The Rewinders, got permission and had Pam Thurman and Chuck Smith transcribe the orchestral parts. The first concert of Beatles hits sold 450 tickets, with nearly 2,000 tickets sold in the sixth year of the show. New shows have been added every season since then.

2001-2002 was the first season the orchestra sold season tickets (a total of fifty-nine!). Each season after that, season ticket sales increased, with over 800 being sold in the 2007-2008 season. The budget increased from $30,000 for that second year to over $600,000 for 2007-2008. Attendance at concerts went from 150 to 200 the first season to an average of 750 to 800 in 2007-2008.