About the PSO
The Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra (PSO) was founded in 1997 as a place for musicians to come together to make music and share it with the community. Over time, the orchestra has expanded its focus outward, serving the Greater Seacoast through high-quality symphonic and chamber performances, as well as a variety of educational programs.
Today, the PSO is made up of more than 65 local professionals, educators, and dedicated volunteer musicians. Each season, the orchestra presents four Main Stage concerts and two Holiday Pops performances. In partnership with The Music Hall, the PSO also presents beloved school-day concerts, introducing thousands of local elementary students to the joy of live orchestral music.
Beyond the concert hall, the PSO engages audiences of all ages through its Portsmouth Symphony Chamber Players chamber music series, Family Matinees, in-school enrichment concerts and workshops, and collaborations with community partners throughout the region.
In 2011, John Page became Music Director, ushering in a new era of artistic growth and deeper community engagement throughout the Seacoast region.
PSO Highlights include:
- September 2025: World-renowed violinist Itzhak Perlman performed Itzhak Perlman’s Cinema Serenade with the PSO.
- June 2025: The PSO Principal Winds were accepted on to the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Arts Education Artist Roster.
- January 2025: The orchestra received a generous donation of $300,000 from former PSO President Clinton F. Miller III, MD and his wife Laurel Ann Miller to create the Performing Guest Artists Fund.
- November 2023: Co-commission with The Music Hall of At This Point by Greg Brown with lyrics by Todd Hearon in commemoration of Portsmouth, NH’s 400th Anniversary. The commission was designated as a PNH400 Legacy Project.
- April 2022: Performed Wild Symphony with Dan Brown at The Music Hall
- January 2021: “Joyful and Bright into the New Year with the PSO” aired on NHPBS.
- April 2019: Became the resident orchestra of The Music Hall.
- March 2017: Performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony collaborating with Amare Cantare, Portsmouth Pro Musica, St. John’s Choir, and Portsmouth High School.
- May 2016: Began school day concerts at The Music Hall.
- October 2014: The orchestra’s live performance of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique was released by Navona Records and is available on iTunes.
- August 2013: Accompanied Grammy award-winning clarinetist Richard Stoltzman in the premiere of a work by Lukas Foss at the PARMA Music Festival.
- November 2012: Performance at Carnegie Hall with Jane Seymour.
Acknowledgments
The Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra welcomes and values support from the Greater Seacoast business and professional community. We are proud to count many wonderful organizations and businesses among our partners with visionary leadership, commitment to artistic excellence, and an interest in fostering community collaborations.
We wish to acknowledge the following organizations with whom we are proud partners. We are grateful for the support we have received from:
- Riverwoods Retirement Community, Exeter
- Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, Portsmouth
- The Music Hall, Portsmouth
- Portsmouth School District
- Rye Junior High School
- Seacoast Media Group
- Parma Recordings
- Prescott Park Arts Festival
- Great Bay Academy of Dance
- ArtSpeak
- Strawbery Banke
- Portsmouth Athenaeum
- St. John’s Church
- Dance Hall, Kittery
- Portsmouth Chamber Collaborative
The Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra is a 501(c)3 tax exempt not-for-profit organization. All contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowable by law. Fed Tax ID: 02-0494545
