The California Symphony is a professional orchestra based in Walnut Creek, California, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The orchestra, which "may be the most forward-looking music organization around",^[1] performs in the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek and is a member of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras. It has been credited with "redefining the classical concert experience as we know it."^[2]

California Symphony's Young American Composer-in-Residence program has been called "a model for residency programs across the country."^[15] The program began in 1991 and each composer is with the Symphony for three years.^[16] The first composer to participate in the Young American Composer-in-Residence program was Kamran Ince. "The idea for the program came out of [Barry] Jekowsky's long-standing advocacy of both young musicians and American composers."^[17] The program allows young American composers, selected through an application process, to workshop their music with the full orchestra. The ensemble then performs the world premiere of the new pieces composed, and on occasion the symphony has commissioned works from previous participants after their terms have ended.

The first woman composer in the program's history, Katherine Balch, was selected for the 2017–2020 term.^[18] She commented that "smaller organizations like the California Symphony often lead the way."^[1]

The "Orchestra X" project drew attention in the arts administration and non-profit business fields. The call for participants went out in August 2016, asking for volunteers to attend two California Symphony concerts and then attend a discussion about the experience in October, over pizza and beers.^[19]

Executive Director Aubrey Bergauer detailed the process and the findings on her blog. Results were posted in November 2016, including main takeaways and what California Symphony staff have done to address the concerns that were brought to light. Some of the main findings of the project included the fact that "the music is not the problem."^[20] Instead, items listed as specifically needing help were the organization's website, the seat selection process, and questions such as "What do I wear?" and "When do I clap?"^[20]

Two years after the project ran, "Orchestra X: Chapter 2" was published on Bergauer's blog, listing the changes the California Symphony staff had made since the program's results were released.^[21]

"Inspired by the El Sistema program of Venezuela, California Symphony began Sound Minds as a pilot program at Downer Elementary in San Pablo in 2012. Now serving all second through sixth grade students at Downer Elementary who wish to participate, the program remains completely free of charge to students and families."^[22]

Sound Minds provides music instruction to elementary school pupils in addition to other academic work, three days a week. Downer Elementary is in a low-income neighborhood. NPR states that "the school serves mainly struggling Latino families, many of them immigrants from Mexico. More than 95 percent of its students receive free and reduced-price lunch."^[23] Downer's previous principal, Marco Gonzales, is especially encouraging of the program. He states that it "gives kids a place to belong" and is "one of the most exciting things I've ever done in a school setting."^[24]

The symphony tracks Sound Minds students throughout their experience in the program. Even just one year in the program shows increase in a student's academic scores.^[23] In 2017, the California Symphony secured a collaboration with the East Bay Center for Performing Arts, allowing Sound Minds graduates to pursue the competitive Young Artist Diploma Program.^[25]

In 2018 and 2019, the Symphony ran a summer adult education program called Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed. The program ran for four weeks and was led by instructor Scott Foglesong.^[26] The slides from the 2018 program may be found here.