From classrooms to concert halls, from correctional facilities to retirement homes, the Oregon Symphony strives to create a stronger and more vibrant community through music.
Together with these partner organizations, we use music’s transformative power to inspire our youth, foster life-long learning, and bring healing and joyous music to all parts of our community.
Together with musicians from the Oregon Symphony and local singer-songwriters, mothers and mothers-to-be experiencing homelessness and other challenging life situations create personal lullabies for their children each year.
The Northwest Community Gospel Chorus (NWCGC) is an audition-based community chorus formed to bring Gospel music to the audiences of the Oregon Symphony. The NWCGC joins the Oregon Symphony every holiday season to present the annual Gospel Christmas concerts.
Oregon Symphony musicians partner with Earthtones Music Therapy Services to present interactive, music therapy-informed sessions of beautiful music, relaxing movement, and joy in memory care facilities and senior residences.
We foster a long-term connection between our performers and our community by bringing a special guest artist to Portland for extended residencies of educational visits, free public performances, and concert appearances over the course of three years.
As part of the Oregon Symphony’s ongoing partnerships with BRAVO Youth Orchestras, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, and Portland Youth Philharmonic, our musicians frequently visit rehearsals as mentors and musical coaches.
In Oregon’s only female prison, Oregon Symphony musicians provide solace and hope for those behind bars each holiday season.
This multi-year partnership with David Douglas School District and 45th Parallel has provided comprehensive musical training to students and educators, including staff development, arts-integrated learning, and in-school performances by Oregon Symphony musicians. The Studio to School Project was made possible by a grant from the Oregon Community Foundation.
A gift to the Oregon Symphony is an investment in both artistic innovation and community wellness.
DonateThe Oregon Symphony and Oregon Symphony in Salem are grateful for leadership support of our Learning and Community Engagement programs from:
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Josh & Wendi Bratt
City of Salem
Clark Foundation
Drs. Karen & Cliff Deveney
Thomas W. Holman Jr. Memorial Fund of OCF in Memory of Maurie Dooly
Angela Frank & Michael Merrill
Charles & Nancy Hales
Hampton Family Foundation of OCF
Ned and Sis Hayes Family Fund of OCF
Heatherington Foundation for Innovation and Education in Health Care
Lee & Penney Hoodenpyle
Kris & Michael Kern
Joan Lamb & William Rutherford
Macy's
Gale & Jerry Marger
Marion County
Bonnie McLellan
Anne K. Millis Fund of OCF
National Endowment for the Arts
Nordstrom
Oregon Arts Commission
Oregon Community Foundation
Oregon Cultural Trust
Pacific Power Foundation
PGE Foundation
Richard & Helen Phillips
Franklin & Dorothy Piacentini Charitable Trust
Polk County
Regional Arts & Culture Council
Reser Family Foundation
RH Parker Foundation
James & Shirley Rippey Family Foundation
Robert & Barre Stoll Fund of OCF
Storms Family Foundation
Umpqua Bank
US Bank Foundation
Wells Fargo
Willamette Valley Music Company
Wintz Family Foundation
Wold Foundation
Zera Foundation
Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation
We also recognize the hundreds of individual community members who generously contribute to these programs. Thank you for making this work possible.