Founded: 1921

The Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO) was born from the efforts of 52 volunteer musicians who gathered to perform for the Birmingham Music Festival on Friday, April 29, 1921. Today, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra is continuing to grow and expand its services to the residents of the state, reaching more than 100,000 individuals a year through concert series, youth programs, and educational and community engagement efforts to fulfill our mission to change lives through music. The Alabama Symphony Orchestra is continuing under the leadership of Music Director and Principal Conductor Justin Brown, the Elton B. Stephens Chair, during the 2009/10 season.

As the largest performing arts organization in the state of Alabama, the ASO employs 54 salaried musicians who perform more than 100 orchestral concerts per year. The organization is supported through the ASO’s Board of Directors, which consists of 63 civic and business leaders (see attached). The ASO has a volunteer pool of more than 400 individuals who are members of the Symphony Volunteer Council. In addition, the ASO currently employs a full-time staff of 21.

The ASO is financially stable with an annual budget of $7.2 million. This fiscal stability is made possible through the fiduciary guidance of a highly-engaged Board of Directors as well as the enthusiastic support of the corporate and private communities. In addition to its annual operating budget, the ASO holds a separate endowment fund, which currently stands at $11 million. Due to the diligent management of our Endowment Board (see attached), the ASO’s endowment weathered the recession an average of 25% better than most comparable orchestras nation-wide.

The ASO partners with several other arts, community and educational organizations including the Alys Stephens Center, Alabama School of Fine Arts, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham and many more to collaboratively serve our community. The ASO impacts a large and diverse audience through more than 50 free community engagement performances per year. The ASO will serve more than 20,000 children through our newly expanded education programs. In addition to enhancing the cultural offerings of the community, the ASO has an $18.2 million positive impact on the Jefferson County economy according to a recent study by Americans for the Arts.

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