Mission & Values
Mission
The mission of the Oklahoma Chamber Symphony Association is to promote classical music in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area by providing free, educational, and entertaining concerts.
About Oklahoma Chamber Symphony
Values
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Through exciting and innovative performances, we create concert experiences that engage audiences of every age and background. Whether we are presenting a beloved symphonic masterwork or premiering something entirely new, every program is thoughtfully curated to make the concert experience memorable, for the first-time listener and the lifelong subscriber alike.
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From our annual student side-by-side concert, which gives underserved young musicians the chance to rehearse and perform alongside professionals, to free performances that open the concert hall to first-time audiences, we are committed to building the next generation of musicians and listeners. That commitment to music education carries through every program we offer, on stage and in the community.
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In order to make classical music accessible to all, regardless of financial contribution, every Oklahoma Chamber Symphony performance is presented free of admission. Classical music should never be limited by someone's ability to pay; it belongs to our whole community. Removing that barrier is one of the most direct ways we can make sure every family in our community has the chance to experience a live orchestra.
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We believe every program we offer, even a beloved symphonic masterwork, can speak to who we are as a community today. Through our Composer in Residence program, we champion the Oklahoma musical voice, and our concerts also make room for underrepresented voices of the past, like Florence Price and Louise Farrenc, whose music deserves a place in the standard repertoire.
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The Oklahoma Chamber Symphony believes that offering live music enriches the quality of life in our community. We have commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing and the Tulsa Race Massacre centennial through the world premiere of Clint Williams' Greenwood, Archer & Pine, raised funds for Ukrainian Aid, celebrated Black History Month with the Norman Public Library's annual Crowns Tea event spotlighting underrepresented composers, and performed at the Oklahoma City Day of the Dead Festival.
Our History
The Oklahoma Chamber Symphony was founded in January 2019 as a chamber orchestra for pre-professional musicians, a place where talented players early in their careers could rehearse and perform substantial orchestral repertoire before landing permanent positions with professional orchestras. As the ensemble's artistry and reputation grew, OCS transitioned from that training ground into a regionally recognized civic chamber orchestra in its own right, built on pairing the intimate, refined sound of a chamber orchestra with the depth and richness of a full symphony. Operating today as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit under the Oklahoma Chamber Symphony Association, OCS maintains a core membership of 38 musicians, expanding as repertoire demands, with programming that ranges from traditional chamber orchestra works to world premieres.
From its first season, OCS made a defining choice: every performance would be free of admission, removing the cost of a ticket as a barrier between our community and live orchestral music. That commitment, paired with a mission to promote classical music in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area through free, educational, and entertaining concerts, has shaped everything the organization has done since.
In 2021, OCS created its Composer in Residence program to keep its programming connected to living composers and the voices of today. That year, the orchestra commissioned and gave the world premiere of Clint Williams' Greenwood, Archer & Pine, a work commemorating the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre and one of the first programs where OCS used music to speak directly to a moment that mattered to our community. Williams served as OCS's first Composer in Residence, and for the 2025 to 2027 seasons, Persian composer Hamed Erfani took on the role, continuing the program's commitment to new music and diverse voices.
That same spirit of doing good through music carried the orchestra through the years that followed. In May 2022, OCS presented a benefit concert for Ukraine at St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church, raising funds for the International Committee of the Red Cross's Ukraine Crisis Fund and featuring Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2, "Ukrainian." OCS has also partnered with the Norman Public Library's annual Crowns Tea event to celebrate Black History Month and spotlight underrepresented composers, and has brought its musicians to community gatherings such as the Oklahoma City Day of the Dead Festival.
On April 5, 2025, OCS marked one of its most significant commemorations to date: "Oklahoma Strong," a concert at First Church OKC honoring the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. The program paired the world premiere of a requiem by Clint Williams with Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, performed in a building constructed to replace the one damaged in the bombing, and Dvořák's A Hero's Song, reflecting the Oklahoma Standard, a community rising to help its neighbors overcome tragedy.
Today, under the continued leadership of Music Director & Chief Conductor Kaleb Benda, the Oklahoma Chamber Symphony carries that founding vision forward: entertaining, educating, and enriching the Oklahoma City community through free, accessible, and community-relevant orchestral music.