Symphony – Keeping Time
Symphony | By Heidi Waleson | September 11, 2026
Anniversaries can offer orchestras the opportunity to make a big statement, honor the past, and look to the future. The Colorado Springs Philharmonic, which marks its 100th anniversary this season, is celebrating by expanding its footprint under the leadership of its new music director, Chloé Dufresne. This includes a newly launched Center for Future Audiences, a community partnerships division that has already doubled the orchestra’s activity in school and education programs in a single year.
The orchestra has also engaged its first-ever composer in residence, Eunike Tanzil, and commissioned a work from her. “The season’s programming is bigger than anything we’ve ever done,” says President and CEO Nathan Newbrough. “We’re really stretching ourselves.” In addition to its core classical and pops series, the orchestra is now collaborating with a theater company for themed programs—such as “Appalachian Spring” with music by Copland, John Adams, and Steve Reich—that are built around storytelling using actors, lighting, and video. The Colorado Springs Philharmonic has also just launched a new website and is undertaking a brand awareness campaign. “We want to make sure people know about us, to get culturally aware non-attenders to try us for the first time and realize what the live experience can be,” Newbrough says.
The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra is also working on expanding awareness. Its 120-voice symphony chorus is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and President and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard says the goal is to “engage the community to experience our chorus, showcase the breadth of the group, and understand the chorus as an essential part of music-making.” To that end, the St. Louis Symphony Chorus will be participating in nine different programs this season—nearly double its usual activity level—starting with an appearance at the season kickoff event, a free concert in Forest Park. A special program in May, led by Chorus Director Erin Freeman, will celebrate the ensemble’s kaleidoscopic repertory.
SLSO’s marketing team is busy characterizing the mostly volunteer chorus for the anniversary push: “We have people from all walks of life; some have been with us for decades,” Bernard says. Efforts will be made to engage the area’s large population of choral singers, including those in colleges and churches, to attend. At the same time, Bernard says, the SLSO will be leveraging all its strategies—including packaging Young Friends experiences and corporate nights and using influencers—to bring in audiences who might not have bought a ticket to a choral concert before.
Special programs are central for many orchestra anniversaries. The Columbus Symphony, marking its 75th, will present the world premiere of “The Mysteries,” commissioned from Gregory Spears; the program also features bass-baritone Davóne Tines, performing his Concerto No. 2: ANTHEM, a piece conceived with several composers. The orchestra then takes the program from Ohio to Carnegie Hall, for which Kathy Karnap, the orchestra’s VP of marketing, will be targeting digital ads to Ohioans living in New York, among other efforts.
Some orchestras are looking homeward to mark their anniversaries. As part of its 70th anniversary, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra in Indiana has invited local celebrity Matthew Vaughn, who grew up in Richmond and is now co-principal trombone of the Philadelphia Orchestra, home to perform a concerto. For its 60th anniversary, the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania will offer “WSO at 60: A Musicians’ Celebration,” for which the musicians chose pieces that are meaningful to them and reflect their connection to the orchestra. Musician stories and testimonials will be incorporated as part of the promotion leading up to the concert. The Williamsport Symphony is also incorporating the anniversary into fundraising efforts, with a “$60 for 60 Years” campaign. (Anniversary numbers are often a helpful hook: Colorado Springs has a “$100 Off the 100th Season” promotion for new subscribers.)
Youth Orchestras are also celebrating anniversaries with special events and projects. The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras (FYSO), the oldest performing organization in Central Florida, has branded its 70th anniversary its “Platinum Season” and is marking the occasion with performances in new venues, two commissioned works—one each for jazz band and symphony orchestra—and the group’s third visit to Carnegie Hall. FSYO will also be reconnecting with its roots at home, presenting an Alumni Side-by-Side performance led by Dr. Joseph Wise, the group’s former music director.
The Houston Youth Symphony is going big for its 80th year with a January performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” at Rice University. HYS is also hearkening back to its founding by the Houston Independent School District and the Houston Parks Department with a series of satellite concerts in which current HYS musicians will bring music to their own neighborhoods, specifically in communities outside the city core.
Orchestras have commissioned new logos (Columbus Symphony), along with new websites and other branding in connection with anniversaries. Concert Artists Guild, the nonprofit management company that develops emerging musical talent, has a new descriptive video on its website featuring artists it has nurtured over its 75 years. However, CAG’s most significant anniversary effort is a complete format change: It has switched from an annual competition to select its new artists to a hybrid model. Now, instead of requiring applicants to be present to perform in New York on a particular date, CAG representatives scout promising young talent in schools around the country and can offer places on the roster at any time during the year. “We wanted to make it more equitable and more flexible,” says CAG President Tanya Bannister.
The Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra (Oklahoma) is celebrating a particularly significant anniversary: 50 years with Music Director Lauren Green. Executive Director Emily Fowler hesitates to make comparative assertions about longevity; she will only say that Green is among the longest tenured music director-conductors in American history. More importantly, Fowler says, “Lauren has grown this orchestra, which started as a volunteer group of musicians at Phillips Petroleum, into a mostly professional ensemble.” Green was hired in 1977, the year after the orchestra was renamed and incorporated as the Bartlesville Symphony. “He has helped it adapt and develop with the city. We want to use the whole season to tell his story.”
Each of the season’s four mainstage concerts focuses on repertoire that is significant to Green. The season will also look back on important milestones in his tenure: in March, the orchestra plans to invite winners of the high school instrumental competition who played with orchestra decades ago to a pre-concert reception. There will be promotions on Facebook (still the social media of choice in Bartlesville), and appearances on the local morning radio show. It’s a small town where “everyone knows everyone” so word of mouth is important—hence, visits to Rotary Clubs. Fowler says, “We’re doing billboards. We’ve gone into the archives; we’re working on a weekly series that pairs a picture of him with its story. Lauren is a humble person, but he appreciates how grateful we are to him, and he understands that we want to brag on him and put his face on everything!”
The list below spotlights League-member organizations as they celebrate noteworthy anniversaries during the current season.
