OUR MISSION The Albany Symphony Orchestra celebrates our living musical heritage. Through brilliant live performances, innovative educational programming, and engaging cultural events, the Albany Symphony enriches a broad & diverse regional community. By creating, recording, and disseminating the music of our time, the Albany Symphony is establishing an enduring artistic legacy that is reshaping the nation's musical future. ABOUT THE ALBANY SYMPHONY Recognized as one of the nation’s most creative orchestras, the Albany Symphony has received a record number of ASCAP Awards, two GRAMMY® nominations, and a 2014 GRAMMY® Award for its recording of John Corigliano’s Conjurer. The Albany Symphony was the only orchestra invited to perform twice at the Carnegie Hall Spring for Music festivals that celebrated adventurous programming and innovative artistic philosophy. In July 2017, the Symphony’s Water Music NY tour drew nearly 25,000 people to new-music events in seven towns along the Erie Canal. For each event, the Symphony commissioned emerging composers to collaborate with local organizations to create orchestral pieces to express each town's unique heritage. The New York Times captured the project in “Hell or High Water, an Orchestra Celebrates the Erie Canal.” In April 2018, the Albany Symphony was featured as one of four orchestras nationwide in the Kennedy Center/WPA SHIFT Festival. Founded in 1930 in New York’s Capital Region and led by David Alan Miller, the Albany Symphony presents: a classical series featuring a world-premiere or recent composition at each concert; its American Music Festival celebrating established and emerging living composers; its cutting-edge new music chamber ensemble, the Dogs of Desire; and family concerts. The Albany Symphony’s education programs serve all ages, from its Tiny Tots concerts to pre-concert Classical Conversations to its flagship Symphony In Our Schools and Literacy-through-Songwriting programs.