Pacific Symphony’s Creativity Continues Through Pandemic
The pandemic may have temporarily halted Pacific Symphony’s ability to perform live music, but it could not deter the organization’s creativity and engagement with the Orange County community. Pacific Symphony musicians recorded over 100 concerts from their living rooms for our “Quarantine Clips” series. Members and alumni of Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles also contributed video recordings from their homes. The Symphony’s virtual concerts have been viewed by audiences in all 50 states and over 50 countries around the world. The orchestra’s online audience has grown since mid-March, increasing two-and-a-half times for more than 4.7 million social media impressions.
Pacific Symphony’s education and community engagement team migrated all programs online and re-imagined each program in a digital context, with some highlights including:
- The award-winning “arts-X-press” summer camp program was rebranded as AXP@Home, with almost 100 middle-school students experiencing the magic of the arts over Zoom through interactive classes, workshops and performance experiences
- Students in the three Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles continued their learning in Zoom sessions with composers and conductors
- Santa Ana Strings, in partnership with Boys and Girls Club of Santa Ana and New Hope Presbyterian Church, provided violin lessons over Zoom, and over 60 pre-recorded lessons, to students in 2nd through 6th grades
- Over 14,000 students in Class Act, Pacific Symphony’s Elementary School Partnership program, received customized video content including lessons, assemblies and concerts direct to their homes
In addition to serving existing program constituents the education and community engagement team launched a “Music and Arts Learning” portal on PacificSymphony.org to offer valuable resources for teachers, parents, students and lifelong learners in Orange County and beyond.
