Campaign Update

Campaign Goal:

$12 Million

Raised to Date:

$10.8 Million

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​The Virginia Symphony Orchestra proudly announces its largest fundraising campaign in its history…

Vision Forward Campaign

Celebrating 100 years of community service and creativity, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra has launched its “Vision Forward” campaign. This unique initiative will preserve the orchestra as a strong community asset for generations to come by significantly increasing the size of its endowment and providing the stimulus for future innovative programming both on and off the stage.

“The future of the VSO is bright and Vision Forward has created new momentum for the organization, we continue to evolve into an even stronger community partner serving all of Hampton Roads as its only full-time, professional symphony orchestra.”

– Mike McClellan
Chair, VSO Board of Directors

“As we look forward together to celebrating the VSO’s 100th anniversary in the upcoming season, the organization has much to celebrate – not only a venerable history of extraordinary musical performances and deep community engagement, but a strong financial foundation on which to build for the future.”

– Karen M. Philion
VSO President and CEO

Beyond The Stage

Since 2016, the VSO has significantly expanded its strategic vision by deepening its education and community service beyond presenting concerts. The VSO has created new and unique programming throughout the region including music therapy-based health and wellness programs with non-traditional partners including hospitals and nursing homes. Additionally, the VSO’s collaboration with Old Dominion University is one of the only programs of its type in the country that enhances music education for students by providing hands on instruction with the VSO’s professional musicians. And, just this past year, the VSO performed its first-ever sensory-friendly concert to expand access to people on the autism spectrum.

To learn more about Vision Forward, please call
Lauren DiPeppe, Director of Development, at 757-213-1417.

Special thanks to our Vision Forward donors

Mr. and Mrs. Bert Aaron

Abbitt Family Foundation

Anonymous Foundation

Baldwin Advisory LLC

Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Banks

Clay H. Barr

Birdsong Foundation

Lilly and Bruce Bradley

John and Kathleen Broderick

Joan Brock

Leroy and Cora Collins

Minette and Charles Cooper

Mrs. Nancy A. Creech

Debra Wendells Cross and Robert W. Cross

Stacy and Aimée Cummings

Dr. and Mrs. Robert T. Davis

Ms. Ernestine I. Dole

F. Ludwig Diehn Fund of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation

Cheryl Dronzek

Fannie, Milton, and Leslie Friedman
Family Foundation

As of 4/21/2021
*deceased

Kelly and Tim Faulkner

John and Irene Field

Barry and Anita Fletcher

Goode Family Foundation

Susan and David Goode

Conrad Hall

Connie Jacobson

Dan Jobson

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Kern

Mrs. Eleanor Marshall*

Bill Martin and Pamela Russell

Joanne C. McClellan

Andria and Mike McClellan

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick B. McDermott

Oriana McKinnon

Elizabeth Miklos

Newport News Shipbuilding

Deb Butler Painter

The Patricia and Douglas Perry Foundation

Diane and Bob Petterson

Karen and Tom Philion

Bradley and Carolyn Pittman

Louis F. and Prudence H. Ryan

Mr. Asa Shield, Jr. and Helene Uhlfelder, Ph. D

Jane and Win Short

Joan and Jim Spore

James A. Squires and Karen Jones Squires

Ira and Jean Steingold

Mr. Lawrence L. Steingold

Vanessa Allen Sutherland and Eliot Wolf

Mr. and Mrs. Rony Thomas

Elaine M. Themo

Garland Tillery and Jim Early

TowneBank Foundation

Mr. and Mrs. William R. Van Buren, lll

John T. Vojtek

Eleanor and Henry Watts

Mr. and Mrs. Wayne F. Wilbanks

F. Blair and Jane S. Wimbush

Don and Amanda Winchester

Steven and Lynne Winter

  • Norfolk Southern
  • PBMares
  • VSSGW
  • Capital Group
  • Trust and Wealth Management
  • Norfolk Collegiate
  • Cape Henry Collegiate
  • Birdsong Peanuts
  • New Leaf
  • CBN
  • Smithfield
  • Optima Health
  • Sentara
  • Business Consortium for Arts Support
  • Breeden
  • Regent University
  • Art Works
  • Riverside Health
  • Wilbanks Smith and Thomas
  • Virginia Symphony League
  • Bank of America
  • Associates Dermatology
  • Carl's Wash
  • PNC Bank
  • Ferguson Center for the Arts
  • Truist

VSO Guest Artist: Andrew von Oeyen

Hailed worldwide for his elegant and insightful interpretations, balanced artistry and brilliant technique, Andrew von Oeyen has established himself as one of the most captivating pianists of his generation.

Since his debut at age 16 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mr. von Oeyen has extended his interpretive voice to a broad spectrum of repertoire as both a soloist and recitalist. He has collaborated with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Mariinsky Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony, Grant Park Orchestra, Ravinia Festival Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Utah Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Marseille, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Spoleto USA Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic and Slovak Philharmonic. As both soloist and conductor he has led concerti and orchestral works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel and Kurt Weill. On July 4, 2009, he performed at the U.S. Capitol with the National Symphony in “A Capitol Fourth,” reaching millions worldwide in the multi-award winning PBS live telecast.

‍Mr. von Oeyen has appeared in recital at Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall in London, Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Boston’s Symphony Hall, Zürich’s Tonhalle, Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, St. Petersburg’s Philharmonia, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Herbst Theater in San Francisco, Spivey Hall in Atlanta, Sala São Paulo, Teatro Olimpico in Rome, in Mexico City, Hanoi, Macau, and in every major concert hall of Japan and South Korea. Festival appearances include Aspen, Ravinia, Grant Park, Mainly Mozart, Saratoga, Schubertiade, Spoleto, Brevard, Grand Teton, Chautauqua and the Mariinsky’s “Stars of the White Nights.”

Mr. von Oeyen has recorded for Warner Classics since 2017. His albums under that label, including works for piano and orchestra by Saint-Saëns, Ravel and Gershwin and a disc including Debussy’s Fantaisie pour Piano et Orchestre, have been met with critical acclaim. Mr. von Oeyen has also recorded award-winning recital albums of Liszt, Debussy, and Stravinsky under the Delos label.

Mr. von Oeyen, of German and Dutch origin, was born in the U.S. He began his piano studies at age 5 and made his solo orchestral debut at age 10. An alumnus of Columbia University and graduate of The Juilliard School, where his principal teachers were Herbert Stessin and Jerome Lowenthal, he also worked with Alfred Brendel and Leon Fleisher. He won the prestigious Gilmore Young Artist Award in 1999 and also took First Prize in the Léni Fé Bland Foundation National Piano Competition in 2001. Mr. von Oeyen lives in Paris and Los Angeles.