Two Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestra musicians at Vern Riffe Center in Columbus, Ohio. Photo: Randall L. Schieber
“As the arts community wrestles with the ongoing effects of COVID-19, the Columbus Symphony will approach the upcoming year with a new focus and direction,” writes Earl Hopkins in Friday’s (8/20) Columbus Dispatch (Ohio). “The organization aims to increase its outreach efforts with ‘We Are Here for You,’ a three-year initiative that will help tether central Ohio communities together through the power of music. In the first year of the program, Executive Director Denise Rehg said the symphony will expand opportunities and provide free access to classical music performances and education, with an emphasis on serving underserved communities…. Efforts include: providing free admission to children 6 to 16 … ; providing free admission to patrons accompanying or assisting attendees with disabilities; performing at least eight concerts in outlying communities … and other rural locations; offering free tickets for veterans, active-duty military members and their families …; accommodating health care workers, first responders and frontline employees with free admission …; doubling the number of Young People’s Concerts … and offering free tickets to all Title 1 elementary schools; doubling in-school concerts …; increasing free, on-site events at central Ohio senior living facilities …; beginning a free outdoor concert series in Columbus city parks.”
