Become an active player

The shape of a concert weekend:

A typical concert weekend spans four days starting with rehearsals on Thursday evening, then two full days on Friday and Saturday (09.00 – 17.00 for example), and a final rehearsal on Sunday prior to the concert. However start/finish days and number of concerts can vary, so please check details for each event. Attendance at ALL rehearsal sessions is required for those successful in obtaining a place. 

There are mid-morning and mid-afternoon tea breaks, and an hour’s lunch break.  A social programme is organised for the evenings, and often a reception after the concert.

Costs

The EDO is entirely self-financing and sessions can only be organised with individual donations from the participants. Therefore, a registration donation is required from each participant to help fund every event they play in. Players organise and pay for their own accommodation and travel. This enables the orchestra to make a donation to a local charity – usually with a medical connection – from each event.

(See below for gift aid info for players who pay UK tax)

We hope to be able to offer some financial support to medical students and possibly to other applicants from less well paid parts of Europe. In addition we may be able to offer accommodation in friends and supporters houses for concerts for those interested in this.

The recruitment process

We would like to put on more concerts each year. We are particularly interested in including more players from Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Scandinavia and Baltic countries BUT happy to receive applications from any European country.

The orchestra is formed from medical doctors living in Europe (medical students, doctors working or retired) playing to a high standard.

If you are interested in playing with EDO you need to be on the Active Player List. Please fill in the webform and it will be sent to the relevant Section Organiser (see below). They will confirm whether you have been accepted on to the active player list or not.

If you have any questions, you can email the relevant section organiser (see below).

In advance of each event, section organisers contact their list of active players through their member area with the details, inviting players to register their interest in taking part. There is no guarantee that a place will be offered, as many sections find that the number of interested players exceeds the available seats – in this situation the section organiser will make a selection of players based on a range of criteria and send out invitations to play. Once a place has been offered you will be asked to reply promptly – usually within 1 – 2 weeks – to confirm your place and make payment of the registration donation.  

NOTE: DO NOT PAY OR BOOK FLIGHTS/ACCOMMODATION ETC. UNTIL YOUR PLACE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY THE SECTION ORGANISER.

Although currently most sections are oversubscribed, section organisers often manage a reserve list to fill places that later become available at short notice.

Gift aid info for players who pay UK tax

The EDO has been a registered charity in the UK since 2013. The orchestra is able to claim funds back from UK HMRC under the ‘Gift Aid’ tax reimbursement scheme. (This applies only to to donations that are made by players who are UK tax payers.) The portion of the donations received by the orchestra that are used to cover the costs of putting on a concert (calculated at 75%) can be declared to HMRC by us, resulting in a 25% reimbursement to the orchestra. The EDO has been able to obtain regular sizeable rebates, and as a result increase our charitable donations.

For players who are higher rate tax payer you can obtain an additional portion of tax relief by including your Gift Aid donation on your annual tax return. As above, we have calculated that the amount paid by you as a qualifying donation is 75% of the player participation donation made for each concert.

It is necessary for players who are part of this scheme to fill in and return a Gift Aid form (attached below) to us (only once). HMRC requires us to keep a record of your current address however, so please inform us if you move house.