Rogue Valley Symphony

OUR MISSION

To inspire our audiences and enrich our communities through the live performance of orchestral music. 

OUR VISION

To offer access to world class musical experiences and learning opportunities for all.

OUR VALUES

Excellence: We strive to achieve the highest quality in all we do.
Creativity: We nurture creativity by encouraging innovation.
Collegiality: We promote an ethical, diverse and inclusive work space with open communication and respectful relationships.
Education: We support learning at all stages of life.
Organizational Sustainability: As respectful stewards of the assets in our care, we make knowledgeable, responsible decisions mindful of the future of the organization.

Our intrepid conductor, Martin Majkut has served as Music Director of the Rogue Valley Symphony in Southern Oregon since 2010. The RVS has experienced a remarkable growth under his leadership and is enjoying an unprecedented level of support and enthusiasm in the community.

OUR HISTORY

RVS was founded in 1967 by Frederick Palmer, an assistant professor of music at Southern Oregon College. Dr. Palmer had been locating, recruiting and organizing musicians in the Rogue Valley for around two years prior to the first concert which occurred on November 16,1967 at Medford’s Mid-High School auditorium.  The orchestra began with some 55 players and an initial budget for the first year of $4500.  The RVS has been beloved ever since.

For the first few years, the orchestra played four concerts each season, with two performances of each concert rotating among Ashland, Medford and Grants Pass venues.  In 1987, under the baton of Arthur Shaw, the orchestra started offering five concert series consisting of three performances in the three communities.  Maestro Shaw also began offering holiday candlelight performances in local churches and RVS’ first educational programs: a free Saturday morning Discovery Concert featuring a “petting zoo” of instruments, and the Chamber Players program where five professional musicians traveled to local elementary schools in Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Siskiyou Counties. 

Dr. Martin Majkut was hired in 2010.  During his tenure the RVS has more than doubled its annual budget, expanded to six Masterworks series in Ashland, Medford and Grants Pass, initiated the Link-Up education program to bring music education to three grades of children in the Phoenix-Talent school district, and begun the Classical Coaches program which offers professional coaching at the middle and high school levels to augment music education in local public schools. Musical Mentors was added in 2019 to meet the growing need of providing private lessons to students in the region at no charge.  In the last several years RVS has been recognized nationally for its innovative programming and commissioning of new artistic works and most recently honored by Ovation TV for resilience during the pandemic and Almeda Fire.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Accessibility Statement

How the Rogue Valley Symphony Defines IDEA:
Inclusion: The policy and practice of including and integrating all people and groups in organizations, especially those who are disadvantaged, have suffered discrimination, or are living with disabilities.
Diversity: The policy and practice of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.
Equity: The policy and practice of accounting for the differences in each individual’s starting point when pursuing a goal or achievement, and working to remove barriers to equal opportunity, as by providing support based on the unique needs of individual musicians or staff.
Accessibility: The policy and practice of affording those with difficulties or disabilities the same opportunities to acquire the same information, enjoy the same experiences, and receive the same services as those without difficulties or disabilities.

Our Active Commitment to IDEA:
In policy and practice, Rogue Valley Symphony is endeavoring to create a culture that allows all voices to be heard, that represents the vastness of our community (including audience, partners, soloists, and our three home cities & beyond) from the board level, through the staff, and in our musicians on stage. We acknowledge that especially in the classical music industry, systematic racism, ableism, and classism have prevented many aspiring musicians from getting to the stage. Our primary goal is to create not only an organization but a performance experience that represents and is accessible to individuals with radically different lived experiences, histories, and identities through thoughtful compassion, respect, and communication.

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that the Rogue Valley Symphony operates on lands stewarded by the Shasta, Takelma, Modoc, Latgawa, and Tolowa Dee-ni’ peoples since time immemorial. At the end of the Rogue River Wars in 1856, the peoples of western Oregon, southwest Washington, and northern California were forcibly removed to the Siletz Reservation and the Grand Ronde Reservation. Most of the living descendants of these peoples are now citizens of The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, or The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, and work to this day to revive their cultures and communities taken by colonialism.

We call on our audience to learn about the land on whose you reside and if you are a large landowner, consider what you can do to give back to and support those whose ancestors stewarded the land prior to colonialism. Use the list below to learn more about these nations and how you can help.

The Rogue Valley Symphony hopes to partner further with the original stewards of the land we use to uplift their voices. Help us by donating directly to the nations via their websites, buying from Native artisans, and learning history through the eyes of those who were here before you.

Live outside of these areas and want to learn who originally stewarded your land?
Type your address into the search field on the left side of this map: Native-land.ca

Learn more about the Rogue River Wars here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue_River_Wars