Symphony Guild of Winter Haven Inc

In the spring of 1989, a group of citizens, with the common interest of encouraging and supporting the musical arts in the Winter Haven community, met and formed the Symphony Guild of Winter Haven, Inc. Initial contributions to the guild were made by local residents, Mrs. Jeane Estes, Mr. Raymond Golden, and Mrs. Sarah Hayes. Through their generosity, a 501c(3) status was secured and the first concert season was planned.
Charter guild memberships added to the efforts and a Board of Directors was elected with business conducted at monthly meetings. Throughout the twenty-one seasons of the SGWH, musical experiences have been brought to the community through a season of concerts and performances and have become known as Symphony Guild “Signatures”.

Traditionally, our season begins with a fall outdoor concert in October, followed by a Music of the Season performance in December. In March, the guild’s main fundraiser, Champagne and Shamrocks , is a sellout evening of gourmet food, outstanding music, humorous champagne toasts, and old fashioned community spirit. In the spring, the SGWH says, thank you to the community with a free concert on the first Sunday in May. This is our annual Young Peoples Concert in which we showcase talent from Lois Cowles Harrison School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Lakeland. Many of these students are from Winter Haven and this concert always serves as an inspiration to us to keep on keeping up our mission of outreach to young artists!

The Guild proudly sponsors music students at Polk State College through scholarships that allow them to continue their music studies at a four year college. Auditions for these scholarships are held in January.
The Symphony Guild of Winter Haven is growing with the city and truly has a “noteworthy” place in the community that it serves!