Mission
To enhance community life by providing diverse and inclusive classical music programs, events, and performances, featuring Latino arts and culture, in order to build intercultural understanding, foster connection and engagement, and strengthen the leadership and voice of underrepresented communities in the Pacific Northwest.
Vision
Orquesta Northwest music programs, performances, and events, featuring Latinx artists, composers, and culture, serve as a bridge to excellence in every dimension of life, empowering marginalized communities, especially youth, and strengthening their voice in civic life.
History
Founded in 2019, Orquesta Northwest is the culmination of three programs.
In the beginning, Young Strings Outreach (YSO), formerly Young Strings Project Outreach, launched in 2006 as a platform to provide underprivileged youth with free instruction on classical string instruments. Initiatives from YSO expanded outside of Seattle to provide opportunities for youth in Mexico. Today, the World Youth Orchestra, led by Artistic Director Paula Madrigal, provides free musical education and instruments to string, brass, and wind students ages 6-19. After the expansion of YSO, the Ballard Civic Orchestra (BCO), conductor Paula Madrigal, was founded in 2015 to provide adult professional and amateur musicians an opportunity to perform classical music with an emphasis on Latinx artists for the Seattle community. The Ballard Civic Orchestra performs events connected to Latino culture including “Dia de Muertos” concert, a “Los Posadas” concert, and a celebration of “El Grito” (Mexican Independence Day.) In 2017, an opportunity arose for a conducting program designed to find balance between the demands of the conducting business and the preservation of one’s individual musicianship as a necessity to achieve excellence. Led by Artistic Director Sarah Ioannides, Cascade Conducting’s motto is “Excellence Through Equity.”
Guided by these three individual programs – Young Strings Outreach, Ballard Civic Orchestra, and Cascade Conducting – they have now been brought together under the newly-established 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Orquesta Northwest as of June 2019.