About Us
MSO Today
As Mobile’s flagship arts organization, the Mobile Symphony wows audiences with world-class classical music performances, inspires students through award-winning education programs and strengthens our community through boosting quality of life and sparking economic development. We are music for the Gulf Coast. In just under three decades, MSO has built a budget and audience exceeding all other local performing arts organizations combined. The MSO is a significant small business on the Gulf Coast, with a payroll of $1.2 million and an overall budget of almost $2.2 million. We reach 18,000 to 20,000 concertgoers each year and have an overall economic impact of $8 million.
MISSION & VISION
Mission
The Mobile Symphony Orchestra enhances lives by achieving the highest standards in live symphonic music and music education.
Vision
We create an environment that allows for the presentation of the finest quality music.
We attract and hire exemplary musicians and high quality teachers.
We develop and maintain a staff and board who are competent and passionate about the Mobile Symphony Orchestra.
We expand music education and performance opportunities for all students.
We are an indispensable resource to the entire community.
We achieve and maintain a firm financial base.
Mobile Symphony History
For audience members who have been attending orchestra performances in Mobile for decades, MSO’s beginnings in 1997 seems much too recent. As with many things in a 324-year-old city, history can be complicated. Here’s a quick synopsis:
During the 1800s most local theaters had orchestras welcoming the world’s most celebrated soloists. By the early 1900s, the first Mobile Symphony Orchestra formed. Through financial problems, the Great Depression and world wars, the orchestra disbanded and reorganized several times. In 1966, Mobile’s first resident orchestra with 40 full-time musicians played its first concert. That version of the MSO ended in 1970, and Symphony Concerts of Mobile started presenting out-of-town orchestras, primarily the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Alabama Symphony. In the mid 1990s the Port City Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Andrew Harper, was added to the mix. In 1997 Symphony Concerts of Mobile voted to form the Mobile Symphony – the orchestra we know today.
This broken thread of orchestras is tied together by one constant: Mobile loves music. Today, the Mobile Symphony is the premier orchestra on the central Gulf Coast and the most important source of arts education in southwestern Alabama.
Our growth can be credited to the tireless work of board members, staff, community leaders, donors, musicians, audience members and our beloved music director – Scott Speck, who has led the orchestra since 2000. Every concert is performed by the best musicians on the Gulf Coast, and we frequently showcase world-class artists like Yo-Yo Ma and Renée Fleming, because they inspired us to reach a new level. Attend an amazing concert soon or donate to become a part of our amazing history.