M E D I A  A D V I S O R Y

Help the Richmond Symphony raise the final $50,000 and bring the “Big Tent” to local communities

May 19, 2015 – Richmond, Virginia The Richmond Symphony (RSO) announces a special crowd funding campaign (on Razoo.com) to raise the final $50,000 needed to gain a matching grant from The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation. All of metro Richmond and beyond is asked to join in.

The Big Tent Initiative will offer free outdoor concerts for families, in their neighborhoods and parks, and enable the RSO to serve tens of thousands more people a year. The Big Tent Initiative is a chance for the Symphony to work with neighborhood associations, with the
Friends of the Parks, with environmental groups, with local government and the business community, with social service charities, with the faith community, and local schools. Each
use of the Big Tent will create a multi-day community festival – positively transforming neighborhoods as it arrives.

Imagine sitting outside listening to one of these concerts in your neighborhood. Now’s your chance to make it happen! The RSO is in the final push to match a challenge grant of $500,000 from The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation in support of the purchase of this large mobile outdoor performance space and currently has only $50,000 left to go. By donating to the campaign, donors will push us over the top and help bring the Big Tent to RVA and the experience of live music to diverse, local communities throughout Virginia.

To donate to the Big Tent Initiative, visit http://www.razoo.com/story/Big-Tent-Initiative

About the Richmond Symphony
Founded in 1957, the Richmond Symphony is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia. The organization includes an orchestra of more than 70 professional musicians, the 150-voice Richmond Symphony Chorus and more than 260 students in the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs. Each season, more than 200,000 members of the community enjoy concerts, radio broadcasts, and educational outreach programs. The Richmond Symphony is partially funded by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.