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Founded in 1947, The Phoenix Symphony proudly serves the citizens of the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, central Arizona, and the southwestern United States. What began as an occasional group of musicians performing a handful of concerts each year (in a city of fewer than 100,000 people) today serves more than 300,000 people annually, with 275 concerts and presentations throughout the Valley of the Sun and beyond. The 75-member Phoenix Symphony presents an annual season from September through May, featuring classical and pops concerts in downtown Phoenix, along with a variety of symphonic and community presentations in Scottsdale, in Prescott, and throughout central Arizona. Each season, the Symphony performs for more than 70,000 students and children (representing over 275 different schools), helping to introduce music to new generations through a variety of education, community, and youth-engagement programs.
As Arizona's only full-time, professional orchestra, The Phoenix Symphony operates on an annual budget of more than $8 million, of which ticket revenues cover approximately 40%. Remaining funds are provided through the generosity and vision of thousands of individuals, corporations, and foundations. The Symphony also receives important support through public funding provided from the area's citizens via the Arizona Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Phoenix Office of Arts & Culture, and other governmental departments.
The Phoenix Symphony offers a wide variety of programming each year - including regular series of Classics, Symphony Pops, Chamber Orchestra, and Family offerings, as well as special community presentations celebrating various holidays and area events. A strong and collaborative program of education and youth engagement activities includes concerts presented downtown for school children alongside smaller presentations performed at schools and for neighborhood groups throughout the Valley.
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