Seattle Festival Orchestra

Mission

Seattle Festival Orchestra cultivates modern audiences through diverse programming, performance practice, and youth engagement.

Description

Seattle Festival Orchestra (SFO) shares the joys of classical music with the Greater Seattle community through affordable performances. SFO is a vital community asset - both as a platform for skilled musicians to share their love of music and for providing audiences access to inspiring live music. Year after year, Seattle Festival Orchestra succeeds in bringing together people of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures.

In 2018, conductor Bobby Collins began his tenure as the orchestra’s music director, helping to develop the SFO to produce ever-greater artistic value to the community. Bobby has conducted in performance groups such as Skagit Symphony, Saratoga Orchestra and Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra, and currently is the assistant conductor of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.

History: Through a mayoral request in 1977, Seattle Festival Orchestra was originally founded by the former Dean of UW School of Music Dr. Stanley Chapple as the Musician's Emeritus Symphony Orchestra (MESO). It began as an orchestra dedicated to the continued enrichment of retired musicians over the age of 65. During Conductor Jim Mihara's tenure in 2000, the ensemble opened its doors to adult musicians of all ages. The orchestra then changed its name in 2008 to reflect the major changes.