"The individuals in our symphony strive to be a musically enriching and socially interactive group removed of competition and politics."

The key to accomplishing any goal is knowing what you're aiming for. A mission statement helps solidify exactly what this symphony hopes to achieve. It serves as a proverbial lighthouse to help guide us when things get rough, and also acts as a compass to keep us pointed in the right direction. Let me go through some important aspects of the mission statement.

Individuals

Each person brings his or her own unique qualities to the group. We do not play in a self-sustaining symphony that people join. The symphony is its people, plain and simple. This means that musicians have a voice as to how PSSO operates. On the other hand, empowerment carries with it a certain degree of responsibility and ownership for the symphony's well being.

Strive

This word is not light hearted by any means. When I think of striving for something, words like effort, hard work, and commitment come to mind. This doesn't mean rehearsals will be torture sessions. We strive to have fun just as much as we strive to make incredible music. The main point is that none of us should be content with how things are right now. We always want to be moving toward some goal, no matter what we're doing.

Musically Enriching

There are really two groups of people that are being targeted by this portion of the mission statement: listeners and musicians. In terms of listeners, our diverse repertoire challenges them with lesser known works and exhilarates them with well known favorites. Each concert is designed to leave the audience with something memorable. As for the musician, playing in a musically enriching symphony should be a challenging and gratifying experience. Unfortunately, the wider the range of abilities, the harder it is to meet the each musician's needs. People should not be over-challenged (frustrated) or under-challenged (bored); neither case offers a musically enriching experience. It is this portion of the mission statement that makes auditions a required component of joining the group.

Socially Interactive

This means we'll have fun whether our instruments are in hand or in their cases. If you want to join a symphony where you go to rehearsal, play, and leave, week in and week out, then this is not the right group for you. The rehearsals will be organized more as social get togethers with food provided. In addition, members will be able to access a directory on the web site and post events on an e-mail distribution list. I, for one, plan on making a fair number of skiing excursions, and I'm counting on finding at least a handful of ski buddies!

Group

This is essentially the counterweight to the blurb of everyone being individuals. Yes, each musician has a voice, but we must function as a team. If everyone wants to play Eine Kleine Nachtmusik except for one musician who wants to play Jurrasic Park (Lord help us all if this dilemma ever arises), we hope s/he would still be a faithful team player when playing Eine Kleine. Personally, I'll probably shed a few tears if everyone wants to play Eine Kleine. But if that's what everyone wants to play, I'll conduct as if it were one of my favorites!

Competition

Anyone who's played in a musical group, no matter how advanced, knows that symphonies are competitive. Sometimes I wish symphonies were more like chorales where the listener sees a wall of capable musicians all working together, rather than a ranked seating arrangement. Recall that each individual defines the symphony. The symphony does not define the individual. And yet, musicians are notorious for assigning self-worth according to where they sit. We want to distance ourselves from this competitive nature as much as possible. Does this mean we'll randomly place all of the musicians in a single file line across the stage? Probably not. But if you're one of those musicians who can't bear to sit anywhere but 1st, I'm sorry...consider that chair already taken.

Politics

Whenever you form a group that's working together toward certain goals, politics invariably enters the picture. For instance, even before the group plays its first downbeat, some applicants will be accepted and some won't. It's extremely difficult to prevent politics from creeping into this decision making process. Everything from seating to money matters to music selection involves politics, and we want to minimize its impact on the group.