Opus 100
Make Music More
As the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra continues on its journey to our 100th anniversary, we’re committed to our 10-year plan that addresses the changes we’re facing, the successes we’re celebrating, and the initiatives we need to support.
Opus is a word that means so much to musicians – its literal meaning is a large-scale artistic work of music. From an opus number we can tell you what period of a composer’s life the piece comes from, we instantly know where it falls into the repertoire, and we may even be able to give insight into what to expect from music in that opus. In preparation for the SSO’s centenary, we have large-scale artistic work to do. In launching Opus 100, the SSO acknowledges and addresses the work that creates a triumphant 100th anniversary in 2031.
Musical Growth
The SSO is committed to long-term planning for the artistic growth of the orchestra and our musical community.
The SSO is changing. By the time we reach our 100th year, nearly half of our beloved musicians will be retired. To ensure that Saskatchewan has a distinct world-class artistic musical voice, the SSO has to recruit world-class talent. We have to bring the next generation to our city not only to play for the orchestra but to foster our own next generation, to bring diverse and distinct voices to our community, and to play a vital and important role in the arts ecosystem of Canada.
This kind of transition also means we need to work with our music community to ensure that the next ten years be transformative. We need to ensure that we work with our musicians to address their needs in this time of change and find ways to support them.
How do we get there?
- Financial investment in musicians and creative projects
- Grow our programming, allowing us to hire musicians more frequently
- Create opportunities that allow musicians to make a living in Saskatoon
- Work with musicians to facilitate the changes ahead
- Become partnership focused with diverse musical voices in our community
Cultivate a Musical Community
Saskatchewan needs to plant deep roots of music education and enjoyment for everyone.
As the SSO changes, so do our community and the people impacted by our work. In 2031 our community will be very different and we must undertake significant development initiatives to ensure that music continues to connect us.
Our musicians are the leaders in the seeding of the next generation of musicians and music lovers. We need to ensure that every child has access to developmental music education. With a strong music education network, our community will continue to reap youth who have learned about self-esteem, determination, persistence, and the joy of making music. Ensuring that the seniors in our community have access to music is paramount to being a living arts organization. This work is paramount to a healthy society in our region.
The joy of music belongs to everyone. We turn our focus on how we can be an organization that incubates musical curiosity and participation for all music lovers in our community.
We make a commitment to the emerging artists of our province that the SSO will be there to create with you. We want to nourish a musical ecosystem that creates possibilities and allows young artists to feel proud to call Saskatoon home.
How do we get there?
- Invest in music literacy programming,
- Create opportunities to enrich the experiences for local music students
- Take action to make inclusive changes to the way we program and offer access to programming
- Cultivate the next generation of patrons
- Invest in new marketing initiatives and brand development opportunities
- Launch of Centre Stage outdoor concert aimed at connecting community musicians and SSO players in a free outdoor concert
- Launch Muziko Project to connect with ethnocultural musicians
- Bring the SSO to perform in communities across our region
Expand Our Capacity
The SSO achieves great things thanks to the people who give their ideas and hard work to make our orchestra special.
We must grow our organizational capacity. The amazing team that has brought this organization into this new era all started with no experience in running an orchestra. Like prairie grass we dug in, created a great working environment, and raised ourselves in a drought.
With that drought over, it’s time to build our capacity. Taking the organization into its next generation and growing our music community through this transformative change will take significant time and energy. Our administrative team needs to be leaders of change through this transformative era. We need to create opportunities for the next generation of arts managers – we have to ensure that organizational strength is ingrained in how we nurture the people who will lead the SSO in the years to come.
The SSO needs to have the capacity to be creative or all of this hard work will have been for naught.
How do we get there?
- Financial investment in administrative staffing for the organization
- Leveraging partnerships to create opportunities to share our capacity
- Creation of entry-level positions for mentoring the next generation of music community leaders
- Present workshops and conferences for our local music community on relevant topics with an impact
- Commit to a building diverse team
- Be passionate about partnerships and relationship building
