North Carolina Symphony Society, Inc.

The North Carolina Symphony is:
Artistically inspirational, creative, and vibrant
Educationally essential and relevant
Financially strong and sound
Organizationally excellent and community-minded

CORE VALUES
• We operate openly and transparently with discipline, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• We create, innovate, and collaborate; ensuring that all are welcomed, respected, valued, and supported to fully participate.
• We reflect, elevate, and celebrate the communities we serve.
• We hold vital fiscal responsibility and financial integrity.

1) Promote a culture of innovation, capitalizing on the growth of our state; advance the quality, reach, and impact of the North Carolina Symphony.
2) Support a vibrant institutional culture that positions the Symphony as a robust organization aligned to serve our mission in the community.
3) Advance education and community engagement with a deep understanding of key audience segments through which we can create opportunities to engage diverse populations.

Each year, more than 300 concerts, education programs, and community engagement offerings reach adults and schoolchildren in all 100 North Carolina counties—in communities large and small, and in concert halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums, restaurants, clubs, and outdoor settings. NCS is proud to expand access to audiences around the globe through concerts and educational offerings available through the digital space.

NCS’s state headquarters venue is the spectacular Meymandi Concert Hall at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. The Symphony’s service across the state includes series in Chapel Hill, Wilmington, New Bern, Southern Pines, and Fayetteville, as well as the Summerfest series at its summer home, the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. NCS brings some of the world’s greatest talents to North Carolina and embraces home-state artists from classical musicians to bluegrass bands, creating live music experiences distinctive to North Carolina. NCS is dedicated to giving voice to new art and has presented more than 50 U.S. or world premieres in its history.

Committed to engaging students of all ages across North Carolina, NCS leads one of the most extensive education programs of any symphony orchestra in the country—serving over 100,000 students each year. In alignment with the curriculum set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, the Symphony provides training and resources for teachers, sends small ensembles into classrooms, and presents full-orchestra in-person and online Education Concerts that bring the fundamentals of music to life. Music Discovery for preschoolers combines music with storytelling, and at the middle and high school levels, students have opportunities to work directly with NCS artists and perform for NCS audiences.

Staging Star Soloists: The Symphony brings some of the world’s greatest soloists to our stages — including violinists Joshua Bell and Augustin Hadelich, pianist Ingrid Fliter, Broadway veteran Michael Cavanaugh, and pop/rock star Ben Folds.

Giving Voice to New Music: In eight performances — including those given on our tour of Western North Carolina — the Symphony and the Cherokee Chamber Singers shared a message of hope through the world premiere of composer William Brittelle’s Si Otsedoha (We’re Still Here). The new work featured text written by the high school students of the Cherokee Chamber Singers, reflecting on their cultural identity; it was commissioned by NCS and supported by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. NCS co-commissioned a new piano concerto by composer Caroline Shaw, performed by pianist Jonathan Biss. Watermark was programmed together with the work that served as its inspiration, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3

Partnering with Neighbors: In our third collaboration with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, projected imagery of water from North Carolina locales accompanied the Symphony performing sea-inspired works by Debussy and Sibelius. Concerts took place in both Raleigh and Wilmington. Joining museums and other organizations statewide as part of Lift Off NC — a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing — we put on a special space-themed program at UNC Healt Summerfest hosted by the Town of Cary, complete with activities with the Morehead Planetarium.

Creating an Artist Ambassadors Program: Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, NCS launched our Artist Ambassadors initiative, inviting pianist Michelle Cann, composer Caroline Shaw, and cellist Zuill Bailey to share their expertise at educational and community events designed to make the arts inclusive and accessible.

Culminating Two Multi-Year Residencies: Our residencies in Sampson County (supported by the Simple Gifts Fund) and Cherokee (in partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and supported by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation) proved what is possible when communities have frequent access to live music and professional musicians. In Sampson County, our three-year residency culminated with band students performing alongside NCS musicians in a community concert. A 12th grade bassoonist shared that her opportunities with NCS over the past three years inspired her to pursue a music education degree, while an 8th grade horn player noted that the Symphony taught her self-expression and the value of hard work. In Cherokee, the capstone of our three-year residency was an eight-concert tour featuring Cherokee choral students in Si Otsedoha (We’re Still Here). The students who sang and helped create the new work stated that their experiences with NCS gave them a sense of confidence and cultural pride.