Community Connections

Since its inception, the ACO has continuously made important civic and cultural contributions to the city of Austin. Every year, the orchestra welcomes new members and those who wish to help maintain the organization's thriving participation in Austin community life.

As has been our tradition for more than two decades, the ACO presents a pair of pops concerts in June at Zilker Park.  Families bring picnic dinners and enjoy an evening of music under the stars.    Also featured is the popular annual raffle drawing for a chance to conduct the ACO's finale performance of John Phillip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever.   The audience doesn’t have all the fun though -- ACO members are known to bring silly props and themed costumes, especially those zany string players.  

In addition to the delightful  music, the friends of the orchestra offer homemade baked goods and lemonade at the concession stand.  The decorate-your-own-cupcake is always a big hit. In continuing the ACO's commitment to bring quality music at affordable prices to the greater Austin area, these concerts are performed FREE to the public at the Zilker Hillside Theater.

In recent years, the orchestra has sponsored holiday concerts to benefit the Salvation Army. As of December 2007, the orchestra had generated over 2,000 cans of food and thousands of charity dollars for this benevolent organization.

The ACO performs concerts for various central Texas organization and institutions.  In 2006, the ACO provided live music for the 25th annual Great Waltz Ball on the University of Texas campus. Additionally, the Friends of the Georgetown Symphony Society (FOGGS) asked the ACO to play for approximately 2,000 Georgetown 4th and 5th graders during the Fall 2008 semester.

Youth Outreach

The ACO has a number of youth outreach programs. The orchestra currently accompanies several hundred choral students at their annual AISD Choral Festival. Also, the ACO hosts the annual Pearl Amster Concerto Competition Festival, which spotlights exceptional young musicians from the central Texas area.

Another youth-oriented event is the ACO's annual children's concert: Child's Play. This concert features music geared toward children of all ages, such as Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, and Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham. In 2004, the orchestra featured the world premiere of Mark Fish's orchestral version of Ferdinand the Bull.