About the ASO
Mission Statement
The mission of the Adrian Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is to create musical performances of the highest quality and to present activities that educate, enhance and improve the quality of life for the citizens of Lenawee County and Southeast Michigan.
Introduction to the Orchestra
Now entering its 28th season, the ASO is experiencing a period of tremendous artistic development, remarkable audience growth, and sustained financial success. The Adrian Symphony is comprised of professional musicians drawn from Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.
The orchestra regularly collaborates with extraordinary soloists, including prize-winners of the Naumburg, Leeds, and Tchaikovsky competitions. ASO guest artists have appeared in internationally-known orchestras in venues ranging from New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Vienna’s Musikverein. Recent ASO soloists have appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Boston Pops, as well as the Metropolitan Opera and other prestigious orchestras across the world.
In 2008 the ASO became one of only seven orchestras selected nationwide by the League of American Orchestras to participate in its Institutional Vision Program, a three-year intensive program devoted to long-term institutional growth and big-picture planning.
John Thomas Dodson, Music Director of the ASO, took over the organization’s artistic leadership in 2001. His artistic focus has been on inviting soloists of exceptional quality and raising the orchestra’s musical level to a new high. Dodson’s tenure has explored a new orchestral model featuring a variety of concert genres, diverse concert venues, innovative audience-outreach programs and broad educational efforts for adults as well as children.
Susan Hoffman, President and CEO of the ASO has led the organization in creating a new, sustainable-funding model that has removed the orchestra’s debt, doubled its endowment, and fully-integrated audience development with donor development. Recently, the organization has begun a planned-giving program whose long-term goal is to significantly enhance the orchestra’s endowment.
The ASO is a Michigan non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation and serves as the Professional Orchestra-in-Residence at Adrian College.