More about The Washington Idaho Symphony

The Washington Idaho Symphony provides live orchestra concerts to the Palouse area of Washington State and to the nearby Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington area.

The Washington Idaho Symphony was founded in 1972, received non-profit status in 1974, and has grown into a regional cultural asset. The Symphony's 70 instrumentalists are primarily resident music faculty and graduate students of Washington State University (Pullman, WA) and the University of Idaho (Moscow, ID) and are paid a small stipend. The outstanding quality of the orchestra has given the community a strong arts foundation.

The volunteer Board of Directors is organized into working committees responsible for fundraising, season ticket sales, publicity, long-range planning, volunteer recruitment, corporate contacts and finance.

The Symphony Leagues provide additional volunteers, fundraising and concert support. The Board also utilizes project and special volunteers from various professions in the region. The Symphony maintains a strong Conductor and Chair Sponsorship program. The program offers an opportunity to establish a memorial, honor someone special, or reflect personal interest in an individual or section of the orchestra.

Donations provide the Symphony with additional operating funds.

Be sure to visit the Symphony Store!

The Washington Idaho Symphony Store is open at most concerts. The store has lots of gift items and fun stuff!

The Washington Idaho Symphony Cookbook, Bach to the Kitchen, is now available! Please contact the Symphony office for details!

Jeremy Briggs Roberts named new Music Director and Conductor of the Washington Idaho Symphony

After an extensive search and audition process, Dr. Jeremy Briggs Roberts, Artist in Residence at the Icicle Creek Music Center in Leavenworth, WA, and Music Director and Conductor of the Icicle Creek Youth Symphony and Summer Symphony, has been named the new Music Director and Conductor of the Washington Idaho Symphony, beginning in the 2009-2010 season.

Briggs Roberts will make his debut in his new capacity as Music Director and Conductor with The Washington Idaho Symphony during a pair of gala concerts scheduled for September 26, 2009 at Gladish Auditorium in Pullman, WA at 7:30 PM, and September 27, 2009, at 3:00 PM at Clarkston High School in Clarkston, WA, conducting Mozart's

powerful Symphony No. 41 in C Major, KV 551, "Jupiter" as well as Tchaikovsky's monumental and moving Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64.

Briggs Roberts, selected out of a pool of dozens of candidates and five finalists who served as guest conductors for performances during the symphony's past 2008-2009 season, stated that "it is a true privilege to join and work with such an enthusiastic and musically-inspired ensemble such as the Washington Idaho Symphony. It is a tremendously exciting time of growth and development for this orchestra, and I feel honored to be given the opportunity to work with such a great group of dedicated and talented people."

Recently named a member of the Marrowstone Summer Music Festival faculty for the 2009 summer season, and prizewinner at the 2006 Vendôme Academy of Orchestral Conducting in Paris, Briggs Roberts has conducted such ensembles as the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, St. Petersburg Festival Orchestra, Parnü Linnaorkester (Estonia), Moscow Symphony Orchestra, London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, and the Thüringen Philharmonie, among others. Previously Associate Conductor of the Philharmonisches Kammerorchester Berlin and Music Director of the University of Washington Contemporary Ensemble, Baroque Ensemble, and Opera, his stage credits include productions of Britten's Turn of the Screw, Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto, Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte, Die Zauberflöte, Der Schauspieldirektor, and Le Nozze de Figaro, Offenbach's Orphée aux Enfers, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, Ravel's L'enfant et les Sortilèges, Salieri's Prima la Musica e Poi le Parole, and Smetana's Bartered Bride. His principal teachers include Peter Erös, Janos Fürst, Jorma Panula, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Gianluigi Gelmetti, and John Nelson.

The Washington Idaho Symphony, providing professional orchestral concerts to the Palouse area of Washington State and to the nearby Lewiston, Idaho and Clarkston, Washington areas, was founded in 1972, received non-profit status in 1974, and has grown into a regional cultural asset. The Symphony's more than 70 instrumentalists are primarily resident music faculty, professional free-lance musicians, and graduate students of Washington State University (Pullman, WA) and the University of Idaho (Moscow, ID).