Make Music More

The SSO is thrilled to have the support of the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation. They have generously agreed to match up to $500,000 in donations this season!

Music plays an integral role in everyone’s lives. Whether the distraction on your commute, the beat that causes spontaneous dancing with friends, the tune that reminds you of that first kiss, the exhilarating backdrop of your favourite movie, or your orchestra in full flight – the musical soundtrack of our lives is what makes life worth living.

Over the last few years, the SSO has been leaning into our mission statement: the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra shares the joy, hope, and community of making music. Against all odds, we’ve been able to keep your SSO growing and sharing our music with you in the hall and hundreds of thousands of people online. There is much to celebrate!

But now it is time to turn our attention to ensuring a robust future for your SSO.

Opus 100: Share in the Future

With only 7 years until our 100th anniversary season, it’s time to turn our attention to achieving the goals we set out in our Opus 100 strategic plan.

For us to keep our community of music growing, we’ll need to rely on the generosity of our supporters to help us manoeuvre through our next season. The impact the pandemic has had on concerts is truly remarkable, and while our new ConcertStream.tv will allow more people to access  SSO concerts it does not generate the same revenues that we’d normally see from ticket sales.

The SSO has seen an era of remarkable organizational health thanks to the support of its donors and patrons. ConcertStream.tv has connected the SSO with thousands of patrons, old and new, all around the globe!

Reaching this goal is paramount to ensuring the SSO can continue to:

  • grow our programming
  • invest in our musicians and staffing
  • commission new works and create unique one-of-a-kind concert experiences
  • launching educational programming in partnership with Carnegie Hall
  • new music education and wellness initiatives
  • take on the significant work to help us achieve our Opus 100 goals

We know how much the SSO means to you, and we’re so grateful for the support our donors have given us to get through the pandemic.

The SSO has been focusing on the joy that music gives us. The pandemic has given the SSO many opportunities to be creative and lean into the challenges – but the pandemic has also meant that audiences aren’t quite ready to return to their seats in pre-pandemic numbers. This poses a challenge to the SSO, as we generally realize 40% of our revenues from ticket sales.

You can help support this very special initiative


Celebrating the Future

In 2015 we had 2000 people who each gave $100 to help shape the future of music in Saskatoon.

It’s time to do it again.

Between now and May 31st, we’re looking for 2000 people to make a $100 donation to the SSO. To share our gratitude, we’re again throwing a donor appreciation concert this November 23rd on the SSO’s 94th birthday. Every donation of $100 gets a free seat to a night of great music with your SSO and a host of surprise guest stars!

You can give $25 a month for the next four months, give $10 a week for 10 weeks, or give $100 all at once. Give $200 to make sure you have two seats!

The magic is that all gifts are matched by the Frank and Ellen Remai Foundation. Their generosity makes this new Share in the Future campaign extra special!

To make a gift to these initiatives you can select to direct your donation in the drop down menu when giving online or let us know when making your donation over the phone or in person.

We’re incredibly proud of what we achieved during the deep challenges of the last two years, including keeping our musicians and staff working through the entire pandemic. We’re excited that we can share our streaming platform with many arts organizations in Saskatchewan.

Your gift to the SSO supports

  • our performances and our performers
  • continued growth of the SSO and the strengthening of our community partnerships
  • expansion of our online offerings to increase accessibility to our concerts
  • our educational programming for youth
  • our outreach programs like our online classes and performances for seniors
  • preparations to take the orchestra through to its 100th anniversary season – ambitious plans and growth are needed to make the SSO vitalized for the future

Our goal is to ensure that our musicians, our patrons, and our community have a strong vibrant organization for generations to come.

The SSO has grown strong through some very difficult times in the past, and we can’t wait to see what the future has in score!

Click here to find out more about the SSO’s Opus 100

Did you know that we can help you make a gift that matters to you? Maybe you’re wanting to support the performance of one of our guest artists, or you want to help the SSO to purchase a piece of music for a special performance – give us a call at 306-665-6414 and we can help you personalize your SSO support!

All donations of $30 or more will receive a tax receipt for the gift value. Tax receipts are emailed to patrons – if you have misplaced a receipt, please reach out to the SSO for a quick replacement of the receipt.