An investment in the San Juan Symphony creates community through music. Your donation provides musical excellence and educational enrichment to the diverse communities of the Four Corners area. The San Juan Symphony has been a centerpiece of the arts in southwestern Colorado for 38 seasons as the professional regional orchestra.
Your donation to our general fund will allow us to continue our mission, provide four subscription concerts per year, our $5.00 Family Concert, the San Juan Symphony Youth Orchestra Programs, the San Juan Symphony Chamber Singers, the Musician Makers Scholarship fund, and our Beyond the Concert Hall programming including the Durango Bach Festival, the Durango Chamber Festival, and our 3rd Avenue Concert Series.
SJS is a significant contributor to the local creative economy, paying over $410,000.00 annually in compensation to musicians and staff. Your generosity supports vitality in arts, culture & local community events. Your contribution to the San Juan Symphony directly results in innovative programming and music education.
The San Juan Symphony is an innovative regional orchestra that contributes to the cultural and educational enrichment of the diverse communities of the Four Corners area with inspiring live performances and creative and collaborative efforts.
In the early 1970s, musicians in Farmington, New Mexico, and Durango, Colorado, performed in two separate orchestras. In 1985, the two groups combined as the San Juan Symphony, governed by a Board of Directors with members from Farmington and Durango. Today, the San Juan Symphony serves as the finest regional professional orchestra in the Four Corners area.
The San Juan Symphony presents subscription concerts at Henderson Fine Arts Center at San Juan College in Farmington, NM, at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, and has performed at the Bayfield Performing Arts Center in Bayfield, CO, the Michael D. Palm Theater in Telluride, CO, and Montezuma-Cortez High School in Cortez, CO.
The San Juan Symphony is a member of the League of American Orchestras. After a national search in 2015, Dr. Thomas Heuser was appointed the fifth Music Director of the San Juan Symphony, succeeding Music Director Laureate Arthur Post. Dr. Heuser also serves as Music Director of the Idaho Falls Symphony, a regional professional orchestra in Southeast Idaho.
Under the leadership of Maestro Heuser, the Symphony has achieved tremendous growth. Audiences continue to grow in size and enthusiasm, while new and returning sponsors continue to show increasing support. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, the San Juan Symphony produced a virtual season, recording socially-distanced ensembles for a live broadcast series that reached peoples' homes around the country. The demand for the Symphony continues to intensify, with audiences vying to save their seats for increasingly sold-out events.
Education programs are central to the Symphony's community enrichment and outreach efforts. The San Juan Symphony supports the SJS Youth Orchestra and Junior Orchestra ensembles, which provide intermediate to advanced orchestral training and an invaluable full orchestra experience for young musicians in the Four Corners. The SJSYO remains a credited ensemble opportunity for Fort Lewis College students, and the Junior Orchestra now offers a satellite group in Farmington. Masterclasses, Family Concerts, Side-by-Side Concerts, and Lectures by the Music Director are all part of the Symphony’s extensive educational programming.
As of July 1st, 2023, the San Juan Symphony officially absorbed 3rd Ave Arts, another local classical music presenter in the Durango community. The arts community hailed the merger of 3rd Ave and the Symphony as an important showing of mutual respect and partnership. The Symphony now proudly presents the "Beyond the Concert Hall" series, which includes programs previously produced by 3rd Ave Arts at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Durango. Those programs include the Durango Chamber Singers, the Durango Bach Festival, the Durango Chamber Music Festival and Academy, and many others.
Organization name
San Juan Symphony
1973
Tax id (EIN)
23-7414147
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities, Education, Community Improvement & Capacity Building, Youth Development
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
528C Main AvenueMailing
P.O. Box 1073La Plata County, CO, US
San Juan County, NM, US
Durango, CO, US