SAINT PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA SOCIETY
408 St Peter Street 3rd Floor, St Paul, MN 55102 www.thespco.org

---

Organizations Filed Purposes: To enrich the Twin Cities community by sharing distinctive and engaging chamber orchestra performances. We are committed to inclusivity and strive to provide all people in our community with opportunities to connect with our music.

To enrich the Twin Cities by sharing distinctive and engaging chamber orchestra performances.

Organization SummaryRenowned for its artistic excellence, remarkable versatility of musical styles and adventurous programming, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is widely regarded as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. Now in its 62nd season, the SPCO has recently undergone transformational change with the opening of its new home, the Ordway Concert Hall, the addition of a new generation of players, and significant changes in its artistic vision. The SPCO is primarily an unconducted ensemble that performs a broad range of repertoire from Baroque to new music and works in close collaboration with a dynamic roster of Artistic Partners, whose engagements with the orchestra have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The virtuoso musicians of the SPCO present more than 100 concerts and educational programs in the Twin Cities each year. The orchestra's free online Concert Library receives more than 350,000 visits annually and offers both live and on-demand videos of concerts that can be viewed anytime, anywhere, completely free of charge. Through its partnership with Classical Minnesota Public Radio, the SPCO is regularly heard on public radio programs that reach nearly 850,000 listeners each week on over 250 stations. Additionally, the SPCO has released 67 recordings, including the 2018 Grammy Award-winning recording of Franz Schubert's Death and the Maiden with violinist and former Artistic Partner Patricia Kopatchinskaja. The SPCO has commissioned 150 new works and tours nationally and internationally, including recent engagements in Europe and New York City, and a prestigious residency with Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley.The SPCO is nationally recognized for its commitment to broad community accessibility and its innovative audience engagement efforts. Regular subscription series are performed in a variety of different venues across the Twin Cities metropolitan area each season, a unique commitment to geographic accessibility for a major orchestra. The SPCO offers the most affordable ticket prices of any professional orchestra in the United States, with over 50 percent of tickets available for $15 or less, and has expanded accessibility even further by offering free tickets for children and students starting in the 2016.17 season as a part of the New Generation Initiative. The orchestra also offers an innovative ticket membership model in which members pay $9 per month to attend unlimited concerts. The SPCO's award-winning CONNECT education program reaches over 3,000 students and teachers annually in 10 Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools, and its Target Free Family Music program provides engaging and educational experiences for thousands of Twin Cities children and families each year.MISSION OF THE SAINT PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRAOur mission is to sustain a world-class chamber orchestra at the highest standards of artistic excellence that enriches the Twin Cities community by sharing dynamic, distinctive and engaging performances. We are actively committed to accessibility and intentional inclusivity in all aspects of our work and continually strive to provide all people in our community with opportunities to connect with the music we perform.For more information, visit www.thespco.org. 2019-20 SummaryThe SPCO's 2019.20 season was cut short as concerts were canceled from mid-March through the end of the season. This led to a reduction in the number of audience members attending concerts in person compared to the previous season, which had been an all-time high. The overall SPCO audience, however, including both in-person concert attendees and those visiting the organization's online Concert Library, reached a record high at 286,950 attendees and Concert Library visits throughout the fiscal year - an increase of nearly 100,000 over the previous season. SHARING MUSIC AND SERVING THE COMMUNITY DURING THE COVID CRISIS Upon the onset of the COVID pandemic, the SPCO's senior leadership and Board of Directors established three core objectives for navigating the crisis: maintaining the financial health and sustainability of the organization, maintaining employment and compensation for staff and musicians, and adding as much value as possible to the community by sharing music in a safe and responsible manner. Unable to stream live performances from March through June due to stay at home orders, the organization's digital team created new "encore broadcasts" of concert videos recorded earlier that season and in previous seasons. These broadcasts also featured musician interviews and new "at home" performances by SPCO musicians, including musicians performing with their family members and playing ensemble pieces together virtually via video. 68,531 people attended its 92 concerts in 20 different venues throughout the metro area before the onset of the pandemic. Thousands more experienced the SPCO through its free online Concert Library, which received 89,188 visits prior to the pandemic and 129,231 visits from March to the end of the season. Total annual visits were 218,419, more than 2.5 times higher than the previous season. The orchestra also shared music with several thousand people through its community engagement and education programs, including its CONNECT music education program in 10 Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools. To support families and educators using the Concert Library as a learning and enrichment tool during the pandemic, the SPCO created an online collection of engagement resources to accompany digital concerts. ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS SPCO Musician-led Performances Firmly established as a primarily unconducted ensemble led by its own musicians, the SPCO presented 59 unconducted, musician-led performances in the 2019.20 season prior to the pandemic. Twelve SPCO musicians were featured as soloists with the orchestra, some soloing on multiple programs throughout the season. Several SPCO musicians also performed in small ensembles for SPCO at Icehouse, SPCO at Turf Club, the Chamber Music Series and family programs. Premieres and Commissions The SPCO commissioned four pieces last season and planned to perform premieres of seven new works. Four of these works were premiered in the fall and three additional premieres scheduled for April through June were canceled or deferred when concerts were halted due to COVID-19. SPCO Principal Bass Zachary Cohen gave the U.S. premiere of American composer Missy Mazzoli's Contrabass Concerto Dark with Excessive Bright on October 31- November 2, and the orchestra premiered Color Preludes for String Orchestra, a newly commissioned work by Stephen Prutsman on November 29-December 1. Concerts on January 10-12 featured U.S. premieres of works by Nico Muhly and Andrea Tarrodi. The Liquid Music Series presented three final projects as a SPCO program in the fall of 2019. Projects included Minneapolis-based Bharatanatyam dancer/choreographer Ashwini Ramaswamy's Let the Crows Come, composer Ted Hearne's theatrical song cycle In Your Mouth, and The Sun Still Burns Here, a collaboration between Perfume Genius and choreographer Kate Wallich. Northside Celebration Celebrating ten years of partnership on the Northside, the SPCO and the Capri Theater presented in January the second Northside Celebration - three collaborative concerts celebrating the North Minneapolis community through music. Performances were held at North Community High School, where tickets were offered free of charge, and at the Ordway Concert Hall. This unique program brought the gospel choral tradition, orchestral music and spoken word together under the thoughtful direction of Sanford Moore, Dennis Spears, Kevin West, Courtland Pickens, Dr. Kristina Boerger and Sherri Orr. The Northside Celebration brought over 100 artists together on stage, including a Northside Celebration Choir comprised of North Minneapolis community members and Known, Courtland Pickens' community youth choir. The celebration featured familiar works like The Storm Is Passing Over, an original work by Sherri Orr and several arrangements for choir and orchestra together. Many pieces on the program were arranged by Sanford Moore, including The Dream and Jesus Lover of My Soul (Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring). The program also featured original spoken word by MaLLy and Northside student Amari Wilson.

---

---

Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202131339349304128_public.xml