Symphony d'Oro Rancho Cordova

Reviewed by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation

$5,118 raised by 46 donors

Symphony d'Oro Rancho Cordova offers 4 to 5 classical or pops concerts each year (most are free) to Rancho Cordova and surrounding communities. The Symphony also sponsors local soloists and composers, as well as chamber ensembles featuring symphony members who perform at community events.

The Symphony's inaugural concert in 2013 at the Rancho Cordova City Hall showed the community was eager for more local orchestral concerts. Since Rancho Cordova did not have a performing arts center, the Symphony's initial concerts were held at a local church, where we filled the seats. Later the Symphony began a series of very popular concerts in the food court of local supermarket KP International. And what fun everyone had, pioneering the crazy notion that musicians and the audience would enjoy a classical concert in a food court!

The Symphony has played at many other locations such as the California Aerospace Museum and the California Railroad Museum. A winery? Why not? Under the Capitol Dome - of course! When the Cordova High School Performing Arts Theater opened its doors, Symphony d'Oro was the first community organization to take the stage and a full house. And during the pandemic the Symphony hosted a series of online music lectures hosted by our conductor during Spring/Summer 2020, as well as a series of professionally recorded virtual concerts: holiday concerts in 2020 & 2021, a virtual episode of our popular Poperetta! series (one-part symphony and one part drag queen show!), as well as a Mozart Madness concert in Fall 2021. 

Symphony d'Oro also has commissioned local composers to write original music. Local composer Derek Sup composed and performed with the Symphony a full piano concerto, dedicated to a Gold River piano teacher who touched many in our community before her life came to an end way too early. Ryan Sulieman wrote a piece focused upon the destruction of fires like the Camp Fire (Burning).

The Symphony is led by our creative and fun-loving musical director and conductor Pete Nowlen. A trip to one of our Symphony concerts is not only a harmonious journey--it is a musical education, with the charming conductor teaching the course. For some orchestras you might pay hundreds of dollars each year to soak this all in, but with the exception of one fund-raising concert per year, you experience it all for free because the 60 musicians are all volunteers - doing what they do best to enlighten and enliven the lives of all of us.

Mission

Sharing exceptional music in extraordinary ways.

Needs

Program production costs (up to $8,000 per each free concert): Expenses include: performance venue fees (for physical concerts) or recording technical support and sound engineering assistance (for virtual concerts), conductor fees, sheet music purchase/rental fees, costs for transporting and setting up instruments/chairs/music stands for performances (for physical concerts).

Rehearsal and storage space ($9,000 annually) - Music, instruments and equipment must be stored in a secured and temperature-controlled environment. Rehearsals must be in a room conducive to productive ensemble work (for physical concerts), or technical support and online service fees are paid to prepare for and host virtual rehearsals.

Costs for hiring guest artists and commissioning composers (up to $6,000 annually). Symphony d'Oro focuses upon hiring young local artists when possible.

Volunteers assist with the management of the lobby during Symphony performances.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Symphony d'Oro Rancho Cordova

Tax id (EIN)

46-2225207

Mission Category

Arts, Culture & Humanities

Operating Budget

$0-$50,000

Organization Need

Funding: Program, Space: Office or Other, Funding: Other, Volunteers

Counties Served

Sacramento

Address

P.O. Box 1793
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

Service areas

Rancho Cordova, CA, US

Elk Grove, CA, US

Fair Oaks, CA, US

Folsom, CA, US

Sacramento, CA, US

Phone

916-341-9938

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