Grande Ronde Symphony spring concert features student competition winners

The Grande Ronde Symphony will put two young pianists in the spotlight at its spring concert, giving student competition winners a public stage alongside one of the region’s signature cultural institutions. The performance will also reinforce a larger local arts pipeline, with music education, scholarship support and a full symphonic program all centered in La Grande.

The concert will be Wednesday, May 27, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Eastern Oregon University’s McKenzie Theatre. Tickets will be $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, $5 for college students and $1 for those younger than 18. Family and group pricing will be available through the symphony’s Grace Notes program, and tickets will be sold through Direct Music Source in La Grande, Betty’s Books in Baker City and the symphony’s website. The box office page says online purchases for concerts must be made the day before the performance.

The spring program will pair student winners from the Grande Ronde Symphony’s Concerto + Aria Competition with major orchestral repertoire. Conductor Sam Ross said the concert will highlight two strong young pianists playing Mozart and Chopin, while the orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2, the “Little Russian.” That mix gives the event a broader civic purpose than a standard concert listing: it will place local youth talent in front of a community audience and keep a professional performance platform visible in Union County.

The competition itself is built to do more than hand out recognition. The symphony says it offers winners performance opportunities and monetary compensation. For 2026, the Young Student category will be limited to students from sixth grade through high school in eastern Oregon or southeastern Washington. The Advanced Student category will include a performance spot in the May 27 spring concert, a $300 scholarship, a private one-hour career consultation, audition advice and discussion with Ross. That structure ties the concert directly to the region’s music training network and gives students a practical bridge between school performance and public-stage experience.

The spring concert also fits into a longer institutional history. The Grande Ronde Symphony Association says the orchestra is believed to be the oldest continuously operating community symphony orchestra west of the Mississippi, dating to 1946 at Eastern Oregon College with faculty and student musicians. The 2025-2026 season materials place the spring concert within a broader lineup that also includes a chamber concert on June 20, and the symphony’s site lists a pre-concert “Music Notes with Sam” event for May 26 at The Laurel in La Grande.