Bach's 6 Brandenburg Concertos are arguably the best-known and loved of Baroque compositions, consistently in the top 100 of polling conducted by various radio stations and magazines for classical music fans. Although written in the early part of the 18th century, they weren't published until the middle of the next century, not much more than 20 years before work started on the construction of the building which is now the Capital Theatre in Bendigo .

Bendigo has seen a few performances of the Brandenburg Concertos over the years - most recently No. 4 by the visiting Orchestra Victoria in 2010, and No.3 by Bendigo 's own Chamber Choir and Orchestra in 2006.

Why so popular? Somehow, Bach's genius allowed him to write beautifully structured music which delights the mind at the same time as its melodies and harmonies ravish the heart. Both players and audience feel the same way. However, although the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra came as close as Ballarat last June, we cannot find any evidence of the No. 5 Brandenburg being performed to a wider Bendigo audience.

The Bendigo Symphony Orchestra has never performed any Brandenburgs at all; they were written for a much smaller group of performers, and these days they are normally performed with a chamber orchestra. However, we would very much like to provide a nucleus of players to which could be added other Bendigo musicians who are not normally able to play with us permanently. For some players this could even be the first time that they try playing in a community group. For others, it may be the chance to play a "one off" concert where they can not commit to a full season of rehearsals and performances, as is the BSO's normal practice. In addition, given the popularity of the Brandenburgs , we feel that this would be an opportunity to interact with an audience in a more extended way.

We intend providing a short session (of approximately 15 - 20 minutes) before the concert itself begins, where we will talk about the Brandenburg about to be performed, demonstrating particular passages on chosen instruments, and providing some ideas on things to listen out for, with printed material included in the programme. This will be advertised as a pre-concert talk, and will finish in time for audience members who only wish to attend the concert itself to take their seats. Similarly, after the concert, we will advertise that we will remain on stage to take questions from the audience, if any are forthcoming, including encoring any "favourite bits".

We hope that these steps will help to foster a culture of inclusivity, where we ensure that our audience feels as important a participant in the concert program as we recognize that they are, and encourage them to continue supporting the arts in Bendigo . We also would not be able to try this experiment in reaching out to other Bendigo players in the course of our normal season, as it depends on a smaller number of BSO players committing to extra involvement, and we certainly would not have the budget to provide a venue so closely fitting the spirit of the age of the music.