Having recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, the Bartlesville Symphony continues to present a wide range of concerts in a world-famous multi-million dollar hall, often with world-class soloists, while still retaining its unique community-centered feel and orientation. The Bartlesville Symphony is a cordial mix of volunteer and paid musicians, some of whom have been with the symphony since its very earliest of days, and most of whom have participated in the symphony for 10 years or more.

The symphony generally rehearses on a weekly basis and presents a season of five subscription concerts. A variety of soloists are featured on these concerts, ranging from orchestra members to internationally-acclaimed artists. The symphony, under Green�s direction, has become well known for finding ways to break out of the traditional symphony concert �box� while still maintaining the integrity of the music and the art.

The Bartlesville Symphony often performs several additional concerts during the year beyond their regular season, and also recently appeared several times as part of the OK Mozart International Festival, held each June

The symphony�s concert repertoire has run the gamut of eras and styles. Major works such as Mussorgsky�s Pictures at an Exhibition, Stravinsky�s Firebird, Beethoven�s Symphony No. 9, Orff�s Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff�s Piano Concertos No. 2 & 3, and countless others have been heard under Green�s direction. Additionally, the work of more contemporary composers has not been ignored as the symphony has been involved not only in the performance of a number of recent works, but also in the commissioning and premiere of several, most recently including William Bolcolm�s Concerto Grosso and Jos� Raul Bernardo�s Taliesin Symphony.

The symphony is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of community leaders, symphony supporters and several orchestra players. Lee GrothOlson serves as the symphony's General Manager and Linda Cubbage is the Development Director and Ticket Manager. In addition to these two paid positions, the symphony employs its Music Director and its Concertmaster on annual contract. Approximately two-thirds of the orchestra players are unpaid volunteers from the community and region, with the remaining players paid on a per-service basis.

The Bartlesville Symphony Society is the educational and fundraising auxiliary organization of the symphony. The Symphony Society assists with the Young Artists Competition and the Kaleidoscope Concert each year. The annual Symphony Ball is a social highlight of the community and the Society�s major fundraiser. A number of other projects, including the Symphony of Tastes, round out the Society�s considerable list of fundraising activities, enabling the Symphony Society to make a substantial annual contribution to the Symphony's operating budget.

The Bartlesville Symphony Foundation has been recently formed to enhance the long range funding of the symphony. Governed by a separate Board of Trustees, the Foundation is already well on its way to raising its initial funding of two million dollars.

While not immune from the challenges currently facing the arts world, and symphonies in particular, the Bartlesville Symphony�s performance standards have continued to excel and grow while the symphony�s solid base of community support and enthusiastic response has maintained the organization. Generous funding from the Oklahoma Arts Council, along with local funding from businesses and individuals, helps to assure continuation of the tradition of excellence and excitement which is so synonymous with The Bartlesville Symphony.