Washington Symphony Orchestra

The Washington Symphony Orchestra brings the talents of community musicians to audiences each year through a four-concert season. The 2023-2024 Season will be the WSO's 22nd. Each concert is focused on a single theme, many of which are new to the Orchestra, and blend classics and pops. Now located at the Olin Fine Arts Center, at Washington & Jefferson College, the WSO performs only a couple of blocks from Main Street, Washington, and is proud to help bring visitors to the downtown area. In addition to season concerts, the full WSO often performs free outdoor concerts in the summer, while WSO ensembles and solo musicians entertain at special events throughout the year. For nearly its entire history, the WSO has hosted a Young Artist Competition for high school instrumentalists from Washington County and has added an All-Star High School Choir and a Young Vocalist Competition.

Our greatest need is funding quality productions while keeping ticket prices low. Gate receipts have never come close to paying all our expenses, even when we have near sell-out crowds. Our orchestra is a hybrid of volunteers and paid professionals, but we also pay our Artistic Director and purchase and rent music not already in our library. More funding would not only allow us to pursue a wider range of music that challenges both our audience and musicians, but it would also allow us to bring 20 supplemental musicians in for another rehearsal (they currently only attend the dress rehearsal), improving the quality of our public performances. We would also like to bring in nationally known guest artists that could not only perform for our audiences, but lead workshops for our community’s musicians and singers, as well as serve as positive role models for the arts-minded children in our community.