Juneau Symphony selected to represent Alaska in national online symphony event

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Monday, September 27th, 2021 8:08am

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Photo Credit: Juneau Symphony.

Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - The Juneau Symphony was selected to represent Alaska in the United Symphonies of America! national online showcase event slated for Thursday.

The program will feature one orchestra from each state and showcase information about what each group does to enrich their local communities.

According to United Symphonies co-founder Jonathan McPhee, the collaborative program has been designed to meet multiple challenges faced by community orchestras emerging from the pandemic.

“Post-pandemic, the nation’s professional orchestras are facing challenges related to audience development, resource development, and the ongoing effort to be diverse and inclusive,” McPhee said. “The United Symphonies of America! project is designed to help orchestras meet these challenges and showcase the wonderful contributions they make throughout the nation.”

United Symphonies dubbed the event "edutainment." Charlotte Truitt, Juneau Symphony Executive Director, said the project is the first of its kind and is designed to showcase a cross-section of the nation's symphony orchestras. United Symphonies found out about them through their virtual season.

Juneau Symphony will be featuring the virtual concerts they held throughout the course of the pandemic. Truitt said over 30 other orchestras will be featured during the event.

"I think anytime Juneau can be featured on a national platform, it's really beneficial to the whole community, and the recognition within the musical communities symphonic community around the country is really great," she said. "But also for people that are proud of Juneau, it's kind of fun, you could share with your friends and families that live elsewhere about this so they can see Juneau for themselves."

Truitt said that everyone is very excited. "It's really nice to get some national recognition, and the organization was looking for orchestras that were doing innovative activities during the pandemic and finding ways to still contribute music to their communities, and keep programs active for youth and for families."

"It's kind of an honor to be among these groups that have been selected, so I think folks are pretty excited that we get to be featured in a national forum like this."

The free one-hour online event will be on September 30th at 2:30 p.m. and will be available on the Juneau Symphony website.

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