Alexandria Symphony Garners National Recognition
Posted Sep 01, 2020 | ASO News, Press Releases,
Alexandria, VA— The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra is capturing attention across the nation for exciting and creative programming during the time of COVID-19. ASO’s socially-distanced and safety-conscious events—with diverse concert programs, unusual outdoor venues and wide community reach—were recently featured on the cover of Symphony Magazine, the industry’s national trade publication.
“The need for social distance gave us an impetus to reimagine our traditional indoor concert venues,” said Melynda Wilcox, President of the ASO Board of Trustees. “A whole new world of interesting and unexpected venues has opened up, many of them overseen by community leaders who are partnering with us to develop new and inspiring ways to bring symphonic music to our neighborhoods.”
During these challenging times, ASO is among the most active American orchestras in its budget size. According to Executive Director George Hanson, ASO has developed three new streams of programming, presented by groups of two to eight musicians in outdoor spaces:
- ASO on the Patio serves senior care facilities such as Goodwin House and Aarondale Community.
- ASO on the Go brings music to neighborhoods such as The Crest of Alexandria.
- Ticketed events such as ASO in the Secret Garden on October 3 and 4 at The Rectory in Old Town offer the public a live musical experience in an outdoor concert setting. These sold-out performances are generously sponsored by Renner & Company, CPA.
“When the world was closed down and live music was happening nowhere, we began to look for ways to bring some beauty and a sense of normalcy to our community,” said Music Director Jim Ross. “At our first outdoor performance after nearly two months of quarantine, the joy of live music was evident not only on the masked faces of our socially-distanced audience, but on the faces of those of us performing.”
