| Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) | |
| Type: | |
| Founded: | 1934 |
| Music Director: | Andrew Crust |
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a symphony orchestra based in, and supported in part by, the U.S. state of Vermont. It is a 501(c)(3) corporation.[1] It is one of the few, and the oldest, state-supported symphony orchestras in the United States.
As of 2023 the VSO has 54 contracted musicians, represented by the Boston Musicians Association AFM Local 9-535. It presents an average of 35 to 40 concerts a year, and its annual budget is approximately $1.6 million.[2] For fiscal year 2023, the state of Vermont budget contained an appropriation of $141,087 grant (part of the organization's $1.6M budget).[3] While operating statewide, the VSO's home offices are found in Burlington, Vermont.
The VSO was founded in Woodstock in 1934. It was invited to perform at the New York World's Fair, in 1939.
It performed in each of the state's 251 cities and towns between 1984 and 1986.
Efrain Guigui led the orchestra from 1974 to 1989.[4] Kate Tamarkin was music director from 1991 to 1999.[5] Jaime Laredo was appointed music director in 2000. The current music director, Andrew Crust, was appointed in 2023.
A part of the founding mission of the VSO is to make symphonic music accessible, at an affordable cost, to Vermont's mostly rural citizens. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra does not have a single home hall.
Chartered to bring music to the citizenry, the VSO performs in a broad range of settings including Robert Todd Lincoln's estate Hildene, the public lawn of the Vermont State House at Montpelier, the Flynn Center in Burlington, Shelburne Farms on the shore of Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont, Trapp Concert Meadow and many town commons, opera houses and university art centers including Johnson State College, Middlebury College, Castleton State College, Lyndon State College, and the University of Vermont.
The VSO has extensive educational outreach with its Musicians-in-the-Schools and Orchestral Youth Concerts programs.
Andrew Crust was appointed music director in 2023.