Erie Philharmonic

The mission of the Erie Philharmonic is to strengthen our community and region by providing high quality live orchestra concerts and programs that enrich, entertain and educate people of all ages.

In existence since 1913, the Erie Philharmonic is one of the oldest professional ensembles in the country and is consistently recognized on a national level as one of the top orchestras in its budget size.   With a busy concert season that features five symphonic concerts, five pops shows, and a three-concert summer recital series, the orchestra on average reaches upwards of 30,000 people from across the region each year. 

As they finish their first year together, new Executive Director Steve Weiser and Music Director Daniel Meyer are looking to continually raise the bar artistically for the Philharmonic, something crucial to the survival of a 102-year-old organization.  While we are navigating our way through the current season, we have already planned a phenomenal 2016-2017 season.  Highlights include:

• Emanuel Ax, piano
• Movie night at the Warner Theatre – Casablanca
• A night of Disney favorites with Jenny Oaks Baker

By keeping one eye to the future, we ensure that we are able to engage talent of the highest caliber, presenting the Erie community with unforgettable, affordable music experiences that rival orchestras ten times our size. 

In addition to the performance aspects, the orchestra is looking to reinvest itself as the community leader in regards to educational outreach.  The 2015-2016 will see us increase our activities during each concert week in addition to finding new and innovative ways to reach more and more children each year.

Each season, the Philharmonic presents two youth concerts in the historic Warner Theatre, allowing students from across the region to experience the power of live music in a national, musical landmark.  While tickets for these concerts are only $2, we had noticed that a significant amount of students from the City of Erie Elementary Schools were still not able to attend.  New for the 2015-2016 season, we launched a sponsorship initiative designed specifically to help these students.  With the help of our Board of Governors, as well as various local individuals and businesses, we are proud to announce that all 14 local schools from the City of Erie will be attending the youth concerts this year.  This represents an increase of 30% in attendance for these concerts from last year, and will ensure that 1,000 more children from the City of Erie will have the chance to experience live, classical music.