MARK YOUR CALENDARS
SOGO’s 2026-2027 SEASON Sunday Series Concerts: November 1, 2026 March 7, 2027 May 2, 2027
Events: Brass Choir Ho Ho, Sat. Dec. 12, 2026 Messiah Sing-Along, Mon. Dec. 21, 2026 Instrument Petting Zoo, Sat. Apr. 24, 2027 2026-2027 SPONSORS Concert Series Sponsors: Capital Heating, Cooling, Plumbing, Electric Olympic Dermatology Olympia Federal Savings Event Sponsors: Guild Mortgage JT Painting Co. Peak Credit Union R.L. Ray Violin Shop Small to Tall Pediatric Dentistry Sweet Francis Sewing Co. Tumwater Eye Center
A Season to Celebrate: Music, Tradition & the SOGO Spirit!
et ready for a season filled with wonderful music, and plenG ty of SOGO spirit! From season
performances to beloved holiday traditions, SOGO’s 2026–27 season brings together our talented young musicians, special guests, alumni, and the broader community for an exciting year of music. SOGO kicks off the season November 1 with Bernstein’s energetic Overture to Candide, Elgar’s charming The Wand of Youth, and Ginastera’s exhilarating Malambo from Estancia. Along the way, we’ll celebrate the extraordinary talent of our graduating seniors, including bassist Campbell Patterson, who will be featured as soloist in Koussevitsky’s Double Bass Concerto. In December, SOGO gets into the holiday spirit with SOGO HO HO on December 12, a festive celebration sure to become a favorite seasonal tradition (Tickets on sale October 1). Then, on December 21, musicians, special guest soloists, and audience members are invited to join together for the community Messiah SingAlong. This performance is free and
Meet Emily Godínez,
Academy Orchestra Conductor
e’re excited to welcome Emily Godínez as the W conductor of SOGO’s Academy
Orchestra! Emily is both an educator and an active musician who brings a wonderful combination of teaching experience and performance experience to her work with young musicians. A graduate of Western Wash-
Mailing: 1629 22nd Ave SE, Olympia 98501
open to the public - so come to sing or come to listen to Handel’s inspired masterpiece. The March 7th concert continues the season with John Williams’ inspiring Olympic Spirit, graduating senior Gracie Park performing Reinecke’s Flute Concerto, and powerful selections from Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, followed by Turina’s colorful Spanish-inspired Sinfonia Sevillano. We’ll bring the season to an impressive finish on May 2, with a special brass fanfare and chorale written for SOGO by Olympia composer Mark Thome, selections from Bernstein’s West Side Story with dancers from Ballet NW, and the awe-inspiring finale of Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony, featuring the magnificent Washington Center organ. With four orchestras and a Brass Choir, there will be something to enjoy all season long. We hope you’ll join us!
Purchase your tickets at the WashingtonCenter.org
ington University with a degree in K–12 Music Education, Emily has taught in several local schools and currently teaches orchestra at Thurgood Marshall Middle School and area elementary schools. When she’s not teaching, Emily can often be found making music herself. She performs with ensembles and community groups throughout the region, including the Olympia Chamber
Office: 1110 Jefferson St SE, Olympia
Orchestra, Masterworks Choral Ensemble, and Great Bend Center for Music. Emily is thrilled to be part of SOGO and considers it an honor to work with young musicians. She looks forward to inspiring, mentoring, and helping SOGO’s Academy musicians grow as artists - and we’re delighted to have her with us!
Email: SOGO@studentorchestras.org
SOGO 2 Schools
Music Beyond the Concert Stage OGO 2 Schools is one of the ways SOGO puts its mission into action beyond the concert stage. SOGO Teaching Artists (TAs) provide free lessons, sectional coaching, mentoring, and musical experiences, with a focus on Title I, rural, and underserved communities.
S
During the 2025–26 school year, SOGO Teaching Artists provided 186 individual lessons and 200 sectional
coaching sessions to students in more ences as a professional musician. Likethan 30 schools, all at no cost to schools wise, alumnus Dillon Welch performed for students and talked about his experience or students. TAs worked alongside playing violin with the Louisville Orchestra school music educators, helping students strengthen fundamentals, tackle before performing with the Conservatory Orchestra this spring. challenging repertoire, and develop skills that might otherwise be difficult to Since 2021, SOGO 2 Schools has provided access. more than 1,260 individual lessons and 900 sectionals - all at no cost to schools, This year, students also had the opportunity to meet SOGO alumni guest students, or families. artists in their own schools. Before performing Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. By sharing our TAs, alumni guest artists, and resources, SOGO is helping strength4 with SOGO’s Conservatory Orchesen music education and create meaningtra last fall, alumnus Henry Nordhorn visited several schools, demonstrating ful musical opportunitiesthroughout our his instrument and sharing his experi- region. Your donations helps support this program.
SOGO Has Grown Up!
The People Behind the Music!
We have our own office!
have to admit, it took more than two months before I could bring myself to Ispend time in the now-vacant room that the season officially got underway, SOGO’s conductors Bandefore Teaching Artists (TAs) gathered
at our new office at 1110, Jefferson St. SE., Olympia. For many of our TAs, this was their first year with SOGO, so it was a chance to meet one another, get ready for the season, and participate in a little of Greg Allison’s shenanigans! When he was being serious, Greg, SOGO’s Artistic Director and Conductor, laid out the year ahead. TAs will work in both rehearsal buildings - Capital High School and Jefferson Middle School - and visit up to four SOGO orchestras during Sunday rehearsals. During the week, many TAs are also in local schools through SOGO 2 Schools,
working alongside music teachers and young musicians. They’re already getting into classrooms and making music with students. Our TAs are a big part of what makes SOGO special. They’re talented musicians who love what they do - and that enthusiasm is contagious. Whether coaching a section, helping with a tricky passage, or simply sharing their love of music, they help young musicians grow in skill, confidence, and their musical journey. We’re excited to have this terrific group of musicians helping SOGO students LEAD • INSPIRE • PERFORM this season!
BUY Local
Get Ready...Get Set... Give Local November 9-20, 2026 Join the two-week giving campaign hosted by the Community Foundation Do some holiday shopping with of South Puget Sound - and make your SOGO beginning October 1. PoinSOGO donation go even further! Your settias, wreaths, coffee, and Brass gift will be stretched through the Give Choir Holiday Show tickets online at Local campaign. StudentOrchestras.org until Nov. 1.
was once the SOGO office - in my house! Yes, for 26 years, SOGO lived on our second floor. At one point, four of us worked in a studio room packed with desks, computers, a large copier, and a meeting area. As my husband, Greg Allison, would say, “Any parent would tell their child, at the age of 26 and still living at home, that they needed to get their own place.” Apparently, SOGO finally got the hint! No one was more surprised than SOGO President Milt Harper when he returned from a nice, long, relaxing vacation this spring and discovered that we had leased office space and SOGO was moving. Our new home is 1110 Jefferson St. SE, Suite 200, Olympia, in a building owned by our good friends Josie and Ken Johnson of Olympia Dance Center and Ballet Northwest. They invited us to see the space, and they were right - it’s a great fit for SOGO! We’re also excited to share the building with other arts organizations, including Masterworks Choral Ensemble, Olympia Junior Programs, and Olympia Youth Chorus. After 26 years of living upstairs, SOGO has officially moved out of the house and into the world! And there’s still room for others for office space - join us!