Charlotte Symphony Orchestra

SEQUENTIAL CURRICULUM-BASED RESIDENCY PARTNERSHIPS Integrative curriculum programs where music is connected to the core curriculum.
Ashley Park Elementary—2nd & 4th Grade Language Arts 20 CLASSROOM VISITS serving approximately 97 students	Educational Explorations through Music
Rama Road Elementary—2nd & 4th Grade Language Arts 20 CLASSROOM VISITS serving approximately 182 students	Educational Explorations through Music
Disciplined-based programs in which music is the curricular focus.
Northwest School of the Arts – 9th – 12th Grade Band & Orchestra students 41 CLASSROOM VISITS serving approximately 21 students	Instrumental Music Initiative
Multi-Disciplinary programs
Northwest School of the Arts Middle School – 7th & 8th Grade Band, Orchestra, and Piano Students 16 CLASSROOM VISITS serving approximately 45 students 1 ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE of MILL VILLAGE: A PIEDMONT RHAPSODY serving approximately 130 students	The Mill Project Composer-in-Residence
Community House Middle School – 7th & 8th Grade Band, Orchestra, Chorus, and Rhythm Ensemble Students 20 CLASSROOM VISITS serving approximately 230 students	The Mill Project Composer-in-Residence
Student Performances 8 PRESENTATIONS
As culminating activities in the Charlotte Symphony’s school partnerships, students create special presentations highlighting what they have learned during CSO residencies. Charlotte Symphony musicians guide them in performances for their classmates, schoolmates, and PTAs.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 3 WORKSHOPS The Charlotte Symphony offers professional development for teachers and musicians in conjunction with its school programs. For every school partnership, the Symphony holds planning and curriculum-writing sessions.
Total Number of School/Classroom Educational Services (Not including Education Concerts):	128
COMMUNITY EDUCATION
YOUTH PROGRAMS LOLLIPOPS PRE-CONCERT FESTIVAL Engaging concerts on Saturday mornings designed for young listeners ages 4 to 9 and their parents and grandparents. About one hour, these delightful and fun programs use actors, mimes, puppets, and narrators to introduce children to the world of symphonic music. Each Lollipops is preceded by a Pre-Concert Festival beginning one hour before the concert. The Festival features many hands-on activities for children including the Symphony Guild's popular Musical Petting Zoo.
YOUTH FESTIVAL (Listed under Orchestra Performances) An annual concert sponsored by the Symphony Guild of Charlotte, which features the Guild’s Young Artists’ Competition winners performing concertos with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. The Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra performs side-by-side with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. The CSO Jr. Youth Orchestra also performs.
CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA Ernest Pereira, Conductor More than 95 gifted high school instrumentalists from Charlotte-Mecklenburg and surrounding counties are admitted through highly competitive auditions. The Orchestra rehearses weekly throughout the school year and performs an average of seven concerts per year. Members participate each summer in a weeklong Music Camp fully sponsored by the Symphony Guild of Charlotte. Annual performances include the Youth Festival at which the members of the Youth Orchestra perform side-by-side with Charlotte Symphony musicians and a Prelude concert at Summer Pops at SouthPark. The CSYO has performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC and in June 2002, performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City in celebration of the Youth Orchestra's 40th Anniversary. Members receive monthly sectional coaching by Symphony musicians.
CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY JR. YOUTH ORCHESTRA Ernest Pereira, Conductor More than 85 gifted middle and high school instrumentalists from Charlotte-Mecklenburg and surrounding counties are admitted through highly competitive auditions. The Orchestra performs three times per year. Annual performances include the Youth Festival. Members attend a one-day Mini-Camp sponsored by the Symphony Guild and also receive sectional coaching by CSO musicians.
ADULT PROGRAMS SYMPHONY 101 A lunch-time lecture series hosted by pianist Anna Brock at the Main and Matthews Branches of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. 9 lectures
PRE-CONCERT TALKS (Adult Education) Talks begin one hour before each Classics subscription program and last about 30 minutes. Hosted by Resident Conductor Alan Yamamoto, these talks are designed for adults and feature entertaining dialogues with conductors, composers, musicians, visiting scholars, and others.
SYMPOSIUM/PANEL DISCUSSIONS The Charlotte Symphony hosts occasional community symposiums and panel discussions that explore in depth specific elements of the orchestral repertoire. In November 2008, CSO will participate in a panel discussion on American Modernism at the Mint Museum of Art.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM (CPP) The Community Partnership Program, now in its eighth year, involves CSO musicians in a variety of outreach activities throughout the greater Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. CPP's purpose is to expand the reach and scope of the Charlotte Symphony through musician participation in dynamic educational and musical activities consistent with the mission of the CSO. These musician appearances in our region provide a community service that extends beyond the possibilities of regular orchestral performances.
HEALING HAND OF THE CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY Musicians from the Orchestra visit area hospitals, nursing homes and senior citizen’s centers to play for patients and residents especially during the Holiday Season. These free ensemble performances have taken place at Carolinas Medical Center, Presbyterian Hospital, Presbyterian—Matthews, Mercy Hospital, and several nursing homes. The cost of the Healing Hand program is underwritten by private donations from individuals and organizations.
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS ENSEMBLES Ensembles performed by CSO musicians at area festivals, museums, and civic locations for a diverse cross-section of the community.
MILL VILLAGE: A PIEDMONT RHAPSODY Commissioned by the Charlotte Symphony and made possible by a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, the work is the result of The Mill Community Project, a special two-year initiative whose goal was to create a musical work that would draw upon the real experiences of the people of the mill communities. The project focused on the mill villages of the Piedmont region because of the importance that mills and the textile industry have played and continue to play in shaping the area both culturally and economically. The initiative has involved the collection of oral histories from members of local mill communities and the studying of textile artifacts and historical materials; from these sources composer David Crowe created musical ideas and images that he used to compose an original chamber work. This work honors the men, women and children who worked in the mills and acknowledges the profound influence the textile industry has had on the Charlotte community and the Piedmont region of the Carolinas.
SINFONICA de CHARLOTTE Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, this special initiative was designed to help the Symphony strengthen its relationship with Charlotte’s growing Latin American community. In 2007 the CSO, in partnership with The Latin American Chamber of Commerce, The Latin American Women’s Association, The Latin American Coalition and The Mint Museums, provided a series of five free community concerts performed by CSO chamber ensembles and local freelance Latin musicians and a special outdoor concert at the Symphony’s summer home in South Park. Each of the community performances was designed to highlight the strong, historical tie between Latin culture and classical music. The ensemble concerts performed were: El Día de los Muertos at the Levine Museum of the New South; Pre-Columbian Instruments and the Origin of Music at the Mint Museum of Art; Music of the Spanish Colonial Era at the Mint Museum of Art; Canciones y Música de Camara del Mundo Hispánico at St. Gabriel Catholic Church and Música Distinta del Mundo Viejo y el Nuevo, featuring guitar and percussion at Pura Vida Worldly Art Store and Gallery. The final outdoor performance with was titled Sinfónica con Sabor, Latin Night at Symphony Park and featured Spanish choral music by Carolina Voices Festival Singers, Latin orchestral music by the Charlotte Symphony, and Cuban dance music by the Charlotte based Latin dance band Son de Cuba.
VOLUNTEERS / SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
THE SYMPHONY GUILD OF CHARLOTTE, INC. The purpose of The Symphony Guild of Charlotte, a separately incorporated not-for-profit volunteer organization numbering over 275 members, is to create, develop, and promote an interest in symphonic music in the community of Charlotte and the surrounding metropolitan area and to provide financial and volunteer support to the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra Society, the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestras, and symphonic educational activities.The nationally recognized Symphony Guild concluded its 55th consecutive year of operations having begun as the Charlotte Symphony Women’s Association. Its principal fundraising project has been the Symphony Guild ASID Showhouse, a 35-year tradition that runs for three weeks every September and October and requires thousands of volunteer hours to produce. In addition, the Guild hosted numerous social events and other fundraising events throughout the year, including its annual fashion show. This event honors the recipient of the annual Marie R. Rowe Award.
SPECIAL EVENTS
FUNDRAISING EVENTS Fundraising events occur year-round. Special receptions honoring guest artists precede or follow some performances with the Orchestra.
RECEPTIONS Intermission Receptions held in the Belk Theater of the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center occur during every Classics and Pops subscription concert. The receptions are hosted by the Symphony’s Board of Directors and are open to members of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra League—donors who have contributed $1,600 or more to the Symphony’s Annual Fund.Other pre- and post-concert events occur frequently throughout the year, including open rehearsals and guest artist receptions.
THE ORGANIZATION
Founded in 1932 by Spanish conductor and composer Guillermo de Roxlo, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has grown into one of the premier musical institutions in the Southeast, giving over 105 performances each season and reaching an annual attendance of over 250,000 listeners. Building on a 76-year tradition, the Orchestra is led by the acclaimed German Conductor Christof Perick, whose appointment as Music Director in 2001 garnered national attention, proclaimed by The New York Times as a "cultural jolt" to Charlotte.The Charlotte Symphony is the largest and most active performing arts organization in the central Carolinas, employing over 100 professional musicians, 64 on full-time contracts, for a 38-week season. The Orchestra's principal home is the acoustically acclaimed 1,970-seat Belk Theater of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.The not-for-profit Charlotte Symphony organization is governed by a 45-member volunteer Board of Directors and operates on a $8 million annual budget providing artistic excellence, community service, music education, and a wide variety of performances. It is supported by ticket sales, performance fees, generous individuals, the Symphony Guild of Charlotte, corporate sponsors, foundation grants, the North Carolina Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by a grant from the Arts & Science Council-Charlotte/Mecklenburg.The musicians are employed under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement negotiated with the American Federation of Musicians, Local No. 342.

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