To our Patrons, To our Orchestra members:

Black Lives Matter.

There are no ifs, ands or buts with this statement. It ends in a full stop. We, the board of the Puget Sound Orchestra stand with our black sisters and brothers who face oppression, violence, and death daily. We also recognize that the discrimination faced by people of color in our society is real, and that silence continues this cycle. We will not be silent.     

We also look at our own place in the community. Our mission statement reads: The Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra is committed to achieving musical excellence and diversity through live performances that are accessible, fun, and engaging. We pride ourselves on the excellence of our work. Our Orchestra members have incredible talent and represent a diverse range of individuals. However, we have failed them, and you, in living up to our mission of providing a diverse range of music. Our selections have rarely included composers of color, or female composers. We fell into the trap of the white male composer.

We, the board of PSSO resolve to do the do the following for our talented musicians, patrons, family, and friends:

1.       We resolve to have a diverse group of voices on our board and will work to recruit people of color, women, and LGBTQ community members.

2.       We resolve to reach out to a broader community and expand our audience to ensure that we are open and inclusive to everyone.

3.       We resolve to seek out and perform music from composers of color and female composers.

We realize that we are not starting at square one with these resolutions. We continue to keep our ticket prices as low as we can to ensure that attending a concert is not a financial burden. We also include a non-discrimination statement in our by-laws. These are the first steps in a longer journey, and we hope to walk this with you all.

If you feel like supporting, here are some awesome individuals and groups who are promoting music education. Please feel free to donate time or money to these local causes. We are working as an organization to find ways to lend our support to their efforts.

Seattle Music Partners: http://www.seattlemusicpartners.org/

Key to Change: http://keytochangestudio.org/

The Board of the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra

Alen Shen, Music Director
Sam VanFleet, President
Jennifer Lotshaw, Vice-President
Paige DeChambeau, Secretary
Andrew Trindle, Treasurer
Victor Reyes, Director
Alysia Paxton, Director
Bill Verthein, Director
Andy Wickell, Orchestra Representative