Despite a challenging year, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is celebrating some remarkable achievements throughout 2020. Dedicated patrons and musicians proved this year to present amazing opportunities to reach audiences in new ways.

 Here are some highlights from 2020:

• SLSO enjoyed sold-out crowds for performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in February.

• SLSO celebrated the 50th anniversary of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra—a proven training ground for future classical musicians.

• Musicians delivered more than 50 socially distanced, outdoor performances at parks, libraries, healthcare facilities, and even to people’s homes.

• The SLSO was one of the first U.S. orchestras to resume in-person events at a concert hall, following rigorous planning and a collaborative partnership with infectious disease specialists at the Washington University School of Medicine.

• The Education Team turned on a dime to create a library of activities for the home and launched online learning opportunities for student musicians to discover a passion for music (Discover Your Instrument workshops) and hone their skills (Inside the Musicians’ Studio workshops).

• The SLSO instituted monthly virtual discussion panels that tackled an assortment of topics from movie music to gender representation in classical music, events that have reached thousands of participants.

• Orchestra members and chorus members provided dozens of performances recorded at home expressing their joys and hopes, creating intimate musical moments of comfort.

• SLSO celebrated a balanced budget, despite the impact of the pandemic, and record giving from amazingly generous patrons.

 Here’s to more music in 2021!