About
The Vancouver Symphony’s guiding principle is to create, curate and connect irresistible musical experiences, with artistic excellence at the heart of everything we do.
Since 1919, the orchestra has brought passionate, inspired music to our community and world-renowned conductors and guest soloists to our province. It has made music education a core business practice, and in 2011, the VSO became one of just a handful of orchestras in the world to open its own music school.
Whether you are an avid VSO attendee, believe in the importance of music education, or someone who appreciates the value of a world-class orchestra to entertain and educate, your investment will create a lasting legacy.
Our Impact
Apart from great entertainment, research proves that music has the power to enrich lives, educate, heal, reduce stress, and support our emotional well-being. So, when you support the VSO, your gift has far-reaching benefits for the community well beyond the concert hall.
The Vancouver Symphony Foundation was established in 1986 to provide the VSO—Western Canada’s largest performing arts organization—with stable and predictable funding that would support the orchestra’s current and future plans.
The Foundation’s annual support helps the VSO accomplish the following each year:
- Perform 150+ concerts in up to 10 different venues around Metro Vancouver
- Employ a core of 73 full-time musicians and additional musicians as needed
- Welcome the world’s most renowned conductors and soloists to our province
- Host 13 different education programs at the Orpheum or in public school classrooms that reach 50,000+ children
- Present free concerts that remove financial barriers and make music available to all
- Offer “no barriers” concerts that welcome the neurodiverse community who may be otherwise challenged by the conventional concert format
- Enrich and transform the lives of more than 300,000 people in-person, and tens of thousands more digitally
