2024 has been a great year for your orchestra. All of us here at the SSO are filled with immense gratitude and beaming with pride.

As we approach 2025, I’m honoured to ask you to make a donation to the SSO ahead of  the end of the year. 

Nearly five years ago we shared Opus 100, our vision to guide the SSO towards the upcoming 100th anniversary. We are halfway through this strategic plan, and we have a lot to be proud of.

With your help, we have had significant growth. We are investing in our musicians, investing in the organization, and connecting with even more of our community.

But at this time of year, when music begins to play such a major emotional and nostalgic role in our holiday celebrations, I find myself called to an urgency: we need to do more.

Music is woven into every part of our lives. Music is good for the head, heart, and soul. Music scores the soundtrack to all our important moments. 

But music, and our engagement with it, seems to be playing second fiddle (sorry about the pun…).

Music programs are disappearing from schools at an alarming rate, and we’re seeing fewer and fewer young musicians aspiring to the most challenging repertoire. It is harder now than ever before to choose to be a musician.

Even though we know that music plays a critically valuable role in the health and well-being of adults and seniors, they lack opportunities to make those connections. And rising costs make tickets unaffordable to so many who thirst for live music.

Modern Orchestras have the opportunity to be so much more. Music, like the world, has changed. When I step back and look at the types of music and concerts the SSO can bring to life, it’s an embarrassment of riches and a wealth of possibilities.

The SSO is poised, healthy, and ready to take up the call to do more. It’s that kind of investment in our community that your donation to the SSO supports.

Your gift helps us continue our commitment to significant investment in our musicians – the kind of investment that requires long-term support to ensure they can artistically grow and thrive right here in the heart of the prairies. 

Your support allows us to continue to attract world-renowned guest artists, commission new music to inspire us, collaborate with exceptional conductors and homegrown talent, grow our outreach programming, and create concert experiences that are so one-of-a-kind the rest of the world asks “how is Saskatoon doing this!?”

Flourishing, thriving, and being able to beam with pride for our orchestra is about so much more than ticket sales and financial metrics. It’s being part of an orchestra who is doing the right things – we work everyday to make sure that when you give to the SSO, you too feel proud to be part of this exceptional momentum.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of Ellen Remai, through the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation, your donations are matched. It’s an amazing opportunity to make your gift have twice the impact!

The music isn’t nearly as good without all of us playing our part. With the SSO taking up the call to ensure a robust musical future, it is a remarkable opportunity for us all to make music together.

Happy holidays – see you at the symphony!

Mark Turner (CEO), and your SSO