While the cogs of public arts and entertainment either paused or slowed in 2020 and still remain in recovery in 2021, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra hasn’t taken a beat to rest all year.
Executive Director Denise Rehg says things have been quite the opposite of what you’d imagine, as the CSO team has thrown itself into community outreach with as much gusto as they devote to their performances. For example, in September, CSO put on 20 free concerts over nine days.
“We’ve never stopped working,” Rehg says. “We’ve just accelerated the number of activities we produce. In 2020, we did things that we’ve always wanted to do, but never necessarily had the time to do in a regular season.”
During the course of the pandemic, CSO put on free concerts in 154 Columbus City Schools buildings, organized 31 outreach concerts, launched the educational websites Kids Korner and Symphonic Teens, and developed mentorship and fellowship programs for young musicians of color.
Rehg says all this involvement is part of a goal set in motion in January 2020, when CSO decided as an organization that it was going to work hard to put relevancy to the community as its No.1 priority.
“We asked ourselves, ‘Are we reaching and serving the people?’” Rehg says. “That’s most important.”
While symphonies across the country were forced to make tough cuts due to the pandemic – the Houston Symphony laid off 25 percent of its staff and the Pittsburgh Symphony reported pay cuts, salary reductions and layoffs for 30 percent of full-time staff – CSO kept all its full-time musicians and did not cut salaries through COVID-19.
Rehg attributes this to the support from donors, both governmental and individual.
“The community is so supportive of the symphony,” she says. “The steady flow of donations enabled us to keep the CSO family together.”
CSO’s efforts are being nationally recognized.
The New Yorker published an article in December that read, “The case of the Columbus Symphony is worth of note: Remarkably, it has made no cuts for any of its full-time musicians or staff.”
Symphony for all sounds People tend to associate symphony orchestras with classical music, but CSO makes a point of offering many unique sounds.
“We believe music is the great communicator,” Rehg says. “Symphonic music encompasses a lot more than classical repertoire. We do a lot of pops, instructional work and more. Symphony can speak to any beating heart in the community.”
The CSO also focuses on accessibility, which is why it plans to put on more free concerts in parks and underserved neighborhoods. The orchestra also intends to make its Masterworks concert series free for ages 16 and under.
As much as the CSO team has done for the community, Rehg can’t put enough emphasis on how Columbus has given back to its orchestra.
“It almost brings me to tears to think about the letters, donations and phone calls we’ve received in support of us,” she says. “People come to these free concerts and when they leave, they hand me a donation check. The symphony will remember the way people responded to us in times of crisis.”
Check the CSO website for the most updated schedule of events: www.columbussymphony.com.
Mallory Arnold is an editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
