Eugene Symphony Association Inc

ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH THE POWER OF MUSIC, PRESENTING A DIVERSE RANGE OF ORCHESTRAL REPERTOIRE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE, AND PROVIDING MUSICAL EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS.

DESPITE THE MANY CHALLENGES OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, ESA REMAINED DETERMINED TO FULFILL ITS MISSION OF ENRICHING LIVES THROUGH THE POWER OF MUSIC WHILE MAINTAINING APPROPRIATE SAFETY MEASURES FOR MUSICIANS, AUDIENCE MEMBERS, AND STAFF. TO THIS END, ESA DEVELOPED SYMPHONY SOUNDWAVES, A NEW SERIES OF CONCERTS BY SMALL ESA ENSEMBLES AT THE HULT CENTER, RECORDED IN HIGH-DEFINITION VIDEO, AND MADE AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC FOR FREE ONLINE. ESA INITIALLY PLANNED TO INAUGURATE THE HULT CONCERTS IN FALL 2020; HOWEVER, DUE TO A RESURGENCE IN COVID CASES, THE VENUE REMAINED CLOSED TO LIVE PERFORMANCES THROUGH MID-FEBRUARY 2021. IN THE INTERIM, ESA REBROADCAST ARCHIVAL VIDEOS OF TWO POPULAR MULTIMEDIA CONCERTS--THE FOUR SEASONS OF THE MCKENZIE RIVER AND THE COLOR OF SOUND--AS WELL AS VIDEO OF ESAS SYMPHONY CONNECT CHAMBER ENSEMBLE IN A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE AT EUGENES TEMPLE BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE (JANUARY 2021). ESA RESUMED CHAMBER CONCERTS FROM THE HULT CENTER (WITHOUT PATRON ATTENDANCE) IN FEBRUARY 2021 AND WILL CONTINUE OFFERING THESE EVENTS MONTHLY THROUGH JUNE 2021. ESA IS MAXIMIZING THIS NEW SMALL-ENSEMBLE FORMAT TO BROADEN ITS REPERTOIRE AND INCREASE REPRESENTATION OF FEMALE COMPOSERS, COMPOSERS OF COLOR, AND EMERGING ARTISTS. HISTORICALLY, CHAMBER WORKS HAVE OFFERED GREATER OPPORTUNITIES TO THESE COMPOSERS, WHO REMAIN UNDER-REPRESENTED IN SYMPHONIC MUSIC AND HAVE BEEN LESS LIKELY TO RECEIVE COMMISSIONS FOR LARGE-SCALE WORKS. THE FEBRUARY 2021 SOUNDWAVES CONCERT, CONCERTO FOR STRINGS, FEATURED AN ESA STRING ENSEMBLE IN WORKS BY MOZART, HOLST, GRAZYNA BACEWICZ, AUGUSTA READ THOMAS, AND JESSIE MONTGOMERY. UPCOMING SOUNDWAVES PROGRAMS WILL FEATURE MUSIC BY SHOSTAKOVICH, DVORK, ELGAR, AND VAUGHAN WILLIAMS ALONGSIDE UNDER-REPRESENTED COMPOSERS OF COLOR SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR AND FLORENCE PRICE, AND RISING TALENTS INCLUDING HILDUR GUNADTTIR AND ZHOU TIAN. FROM SEPTEMBER 2020 THROUGH MARCH 2021, ESA BROADCASTED FOUR ARCHIVAL PERFORMANCES ON LOCAL CLASSICAL RADIO STATION KWAX. ESA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SCOTT FRECK ALSO HOSTED AND PRODUCED A THREE-PART RADIO SERIES ON THE NPR AFFILIATE STATION, KLCC. EACH HOUR-LONG EPISODE TOOK AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THREE PREVIOUS ESA CONCERTS WITH INTERVIEWS, COMMENTARY, AND MUSICAL EXCERPTS FROM THE PERFORMANCE. THE SERIES WAS ARCHIVED AND MADE AVAILABLE FREE TO THE PUBLIC ON THE SYMPHONYS WEBSITE FOR ONE MONTH FOLLOWING EACH BROADCAST. ESA ALSO CREATED AND DISTRIBUTED OTHER VIRTUAL CONTENT, INCLUDING A REUNION OF FORMER EUGENE SYMPHONY MUSIC DIRECTORS MARIN ALSOP, MIGUEL HARTH-BEDOYA, AND GIANCARLO GUERRERO IN CONVERSATION WITH FRANCESCO LECCE-CHONG; AND VIRTUAL RECITALS FOR DONORS BY GUEST CELLIST JOSHUA ROMAN, ESA PRINCIPAL TRUMPET SARAH VIENS, AND OTHER SYMPHONY MUSICIANS. TOGETHER, ESAS 2020/21 VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING HAS ENGAGED 24,668 VIEWERS/LISTENERS FROM JULY 2020 TO JANUARY 2021. ESA HAS SEEN SIGNIFICANT GROWTH IN ITS SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT, FUELED BY A WEALTH OF NEW DIGITAL CONTENT. SUBSCRIBERS TO THE SYMPHONYS YOUTUBE CHANNEL ROSE BY 108%, AND ESA EXPERIENCED A 444% INCREASE IN INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT IN NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020, LINKED TO THE VIDEO REBROADCAST OF THE COLOR OF SOUND AND HOLIDAY GREETINGS BY ESA MUSICIANS.

ESA STRIVES TO FOSTER AN APPRECIATION OF CLASSICAL MUSIC AMONG PEOPLE OF ALL AGES AND BACKGROUNDS, AND TO NURTURE THE NEXT GENERATION OF MUSICIANS AND AUDIENCES. THROUGH ITS EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM, ESA EXTENDS QUALITY OPPORTUNITIES FOR MUSIC EDUCATION, PARTICIPATION, AND ENRICHMENT TO YOUTH, ADULTS, AND SENIORS THROUGHOUT THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY. WITH THE CESSATION OF ALL INDOOR, IN-PERSON ACTIVITIES IN EARLY 2020, ESA POSTPONED THE SECOND WEEK OF COMPOSER MATT BROWNES RESIDENCY (SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 2020) AS WELL AS COMPOSER GABRIELLA SMITHS RESIDENCY (ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR THE 20/21 SEASON; ALL C3 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS; YOUTH CONCERTS AT THE HULT CENTER (NOW SET TO RESUME IN 2021/22); AND THE LAURA AVERY VISITING MASTERS SERIES OF GUEST-ARTIST LED MASTER CLASSES FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS. DESPITE THESE SIGNIFICANT INTERRUPTIONS, ESA WAS ABLE TO PIVOT SEVERAL ACTIVITIES TO ONLINE PROGRAMMING AND LAUNCHED SEVERAL NEW ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVES. THROUGH THESE EFFORTS, ESA INCREASED THE SCOPE AND REACH OF ITS 2021/21 EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS, SERVING 16,325 COMMUNITY MEMBERS THROUGH JANUARY 2021 IN 13 COUNTIES (LANE, LINN, BENTON, CLARKE, DOUGLAS, JOSEPHINE, CLACKAMAS, DESCHUTES, JACKSON, MARION, MULTNOMAH, UNION, AND WASHINGTON).