Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society

Programs: Organization summaryrenowned for its artistic excellence, remarkable versatility of musical styles and adventurous programming, the saint paul chamber orchestra (spco) is widely regarded as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. Now in its 59th season, the spco has recently undergone transformational change with the opening of its new home, the ordway concert hall, the addition of a new generation of players, and significant changes in its artistic vision. The spco is primarily an unconducted ensemble that performs a broad range of repertoire from baroque to new music and works in close collaboration with a diverse series of artistic partners, including british baroque specialist jonathan cohen, american pianist jeremy denk, swedish clarinetist martin frost, moldovan violinist patricia kopatchinskaja and finnish violinist pekka kuusisto. Past artistic partners include roberto abbado, pierre-laurent aimard, joshua bell, douglas boyd, nicholas mcgegan, stephen prutsman, dawn upshaw and christian zacharias. The virtuoso musicians of the spco present more than 130 concerts and educational programs in the twin cities each year. The orchestra also reaches more than 250,000 listeners annually through its free online concert library, and has recently begun offering both live and on-demand videos of concerts that can be viewed anytime, anywhere, on any device, completely free of charge. The spco is regularly heard on public radio programs that reach more than 2 million listeners each week on over 300 stations. Additionally, the spco has released 67 recordings, commissioned 148 new works, and tours nationally and internationally, including performances in premier venues in europe, asia and south america. The spco is nationally recognized for its commitment to broad community accessibility, its innovative audience outreach efforts, and its educational and family programming. Regular subscription series are performed in a variety of different venues across the twin cities metropolitan area each season, a unique commitment to geographic accessibility for a major orchestra. The spco offers the most affordable tickets of any major orchestra in the united states, with over 50 percent of tickets available for $15 or less, and has expanded accessibility even further by offering free tickets for children and students starting in the 2016. 17 season as a part of the new generation initiative. The orchestra also offers an innovative ticket membership model in which members pay $7 per month to attend unlimited concerts. The spco's award-winning connect education program reaches over 5,000 students and teachers annually in 11 minneapolis and saint paul public schools, and its free family music program provides engaging and educational experiences for thousands of twin cities children and families each year. The spco's liquid music series (named "best of classical" by the new york times) develops innovative new projects with iconoclastic artists in unique presentation formats and invites adventurous audiences to discover the new and the fascinating within the flourishing landscape of contemporary chamber music. For more information, visit www. Thespco. Org. 2016-17 summarythe spco once again served a record high number of unique attendees throughout the 2016-17 season, surpassing the all-time high achieved the previous season. Individual giving to the annual fund reached an all-time high, and the total amount contributed to the annual fund increased by nearly two percent from the previous year. Serving an expanding audienceaudience growth, new generation initiative, free online concert library:the spco continued to build upon its long history of audience growth in the 2016-17 season, serving a record high number of unique attendees and surpassing the all-time high achieved the previous season. Nearly 116,000 people attended its 140 concerts in 24 different venues throughout the metro area, a 5 percent increase over the previous year's attendance. The orchestra also served several thousand people through its additional community engagement and education programs, including music moves, which brings free chamber music performances to those who are unable to attend traditional concerts, such as those living in assisted living facilities, as well as patients and their families at children's hospitals and cancer treatment and recovery centers. The spco served over 7,000 students through its connect music education program in 11 minneapolis and saint paul public schools, along with homeschool students and students participating in a distance pilot program in albert lea, hinckley and fairmont. In addition, the spco provided 13 free concerts for families and children through its free family music series, generously supported, in part, by target. The spco also presented 10 performances of its celebrated liquid music series, which develops innovative new projects with iconoclastic artists in unique presentation formats and expands the flourishing landscape of contemporary chamber music. The strong attendance in the 2016-17 season represents another year of continued audience expansion for the spco and great progress toward two audience goals established in its most recent strategic plan: to expand the number of people who experience spco performances, both in-person and digitally, and to increase the number of young audience members. The chamber orchestra's audience has grown by more than 50 percent in the last 13 years, during which time the spco has maintained its commitment to broad community accessibility, offering the most affordable ticket prices of any major american orchestra. In the most recent step in the organization's history of bold moves toward greater accessibility for the community, the spco announced its new generation initiative in 2016, a series of programs designed to dramatically expand access to classical music for young people in the minneapolis-saint paul metro area. Through generous funding from a small group of individual donors, the spco is making it easier than ever for young people to experience spco concerts through these new efforts, which include free tickets for children and students, as well as special concerts geared toward young people. Special performances for young audiences in the 2016-17 season included a 3-concert series at icehouse in minneapolis, a special happy hour concert at the ordway, and a concert at turf club in saint paul, which was expanded to a 3-concert series at turf club in the 2017-18 season. Attendance by young people in fy17 exceeded expectations, with over 10,000 children and young adults attending spco concerts (not including free family music performances). Over 8,000 children and students attended regular spco concerts, over four times as many children and students as attended in the previous concert season. In addition to those who experienced the spco in person by attending performances, the spco also shared its music via its free online concert library, which received over 19,000 visits from minnesotans and over 376,000 visits from listeners worldwide in 2016-17. In june 2017, the orchestra announced a major new video initiative, adding full-length concert videos to the concert library and presenting its first ever live video stream of a performance in the season's closing weekend. Spco concerts are offered as full hd video, with the accompanying audio mix provided by the spco's long-time broadcast partner classical minnesota public radio. The spco plans to live stream 7-10 concerts per season and make those concerts available for on-demand viewing, as well. This initiative builds upon the spco's commitment to broad community accessibility, making transformational performances available free of charge to anyone or any organization with internet access. Artistic achievementsmusician leadership, world premieres, national and international tours, grammy-winning recording:firmly established as a primarily unconducted ensemble led by its own musicians, the spco presented 70 unconducted, musician-led performances and 13 spco musicians were featured as soloists with the orchestra in the 2016-17 season. Three new musicians were hired, including violinist eunice kim, principal violinist francisco fullana, and horn player matthew wilson. In addition, british conductor, keyboardist and cellist jonathan cohen and finnish violinist pekka kuusisto officially began their tenures as artistic partners. (continued on page 56)