Oregon Symphony Association

In the 2023/24 season, our education & community engagement department focused on expanding access to music education and fostering community connections. We held 143 free performances, private lessons, and hands-on activities for more than 30,000 people without access to the arts, with programs offered throughout portland, nw oregon, and sw washington. Examples of our education and community engagement programs include the following programs. Our annual free celebration concert reached over 1,000 attendees, spotlighting youth musicians and young composers. The concert also featured an ongoing partnership with housing organization path home, which offers emotional support to families experiencing homelessness by inviting parents to compose and perform original lullabies. Our artist-in-residence program included performances at schools and community centers, including a memory care facility and developmental day centers. We held 55 free community events, including performances by guest artists and our own symphony musicians. Youth education programs reached thousands through initiatives such as symphony storytime, kinderkonzerts, young people's concerts, and link up. These programs served nearly 20,000 students in-person (an additional 112,000+ digitally), with a focus on children in underserved communities and title i schools. 715 students received personalized coaching and lessons across the region, enhancing their music skills and deepening their appreciation for the art form. And around 800 young musicians were invited to perform in the lobby of the arlene schnitzer concert hall as part of our prelude performances series.

The oregon symphony has made significant strides in adapting to changing audience preferences, resulting in exciting growth and success in expanding audiences. Notably, we've successfully expanded our reach beyond our core classical music audience by offering diverse concerts that appeal to new patrons. More than 21,000 first-time ticket buyers attended performances in the 23/24 season, which variously featured film scores, classic rock, gospel, broadway, and hip hop. Highlights included a sold-out tribute to the music of pink floyd, and heroes: a video game symphony, which drove a 21% increase in ticket sales through targeted social media campaigns. We embraced innovative marketing strategies to engage with new audiences, including dynamic video ads on platforms like instagram and tiktok, which generated over 320,000 views and led to thousands of single ticket sales. Collaborative efforts with guest artists, such as exclusive promotional materials with drum tao and press coverage for the music critic featuring john malkovich, further fueled our visibility and success. These initiatives helped us close the 2023/24 season with 162,211 total ticket sales a solid 46% increase in sales for our specials and a strong recovery in our pops series, which returned to pre-pandemic capacity. Overall, these efforts have not only increased brand recognition but have laid a strong foundation for the future, ensuring the symphony's continued growth and success as a leading innovator in the arts.