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SLO Symphony set to return to stage for the first time in a year

San Luis Obispo Symphony
Guests attending performances at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo, will need to wear a mask.

The pandemic shut down live musical performances last year, and the San Luis Obispo Symphony was no exception.

Last season, the SLO Symphony, like many other musical groups, had to adapt to pandemic restrictions with virtual performances and drive-in concerts.

Musicians with the symphony haven't performed next to each other in over a year. That’s going to change for the 60th season, when the SLO Symphony returns to the stage in August.

“I would say that my instrument is a bit rusty,”  said Clifton Swanson, former Symphony music director and long-time bass player.

Swanson said it’s going to be exciting seeing his other bandmates in person again, but admits it may be a work in progress getting back into the swing of things.

“I expect that the first rehearsal will be kind of...exploratory," Swanson said. "Then the next rehearsal will be much better.”

With no in-person concerts last year, Executive Director Anna James Miller said the symphony took a massive financial hit.

This year, they are hoping to recover. 

“We are trying to do a whole season with a half budget, so that’s very challenging," Miller said. "But it’s really important to us that the audience feel that we are coming back.”

The symphony will have two outdoor concerts: a collaborative concert with the SLO International Film Festival and five main concerts at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo.

“We are just kind of hanging in there to see how the audience feels about returning," Miller said. "We understand that not everybody might not be ready to return yet, even though we are able to offer a full capacity in the performing arts center. So we are unsure yet what our crowds are going to look like.”

The symphony says that tickets for the five main concerts are available exclusively in packages until single tickets go on sale September 15. For more information, click here.

Angel Russell is a former KCBX News reporter who started her career in journalism as a reporter and producer for KREX on Colorado's Western Slope; she later moved to the Central Coast to work for KSBY as weekend anchor and weekday reporter. She holds a BA in journalism from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, and playing guitar and piano.
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