Founding Music Director & Conductor at Portland Festival Symphony - Lake Oswego, OR, US
Portland Festival Symphony (PFS) has been bringing free classical music to Portland's Parks since 1981. It is a unique organization because it is the only professional symphony orchestra that takes the symphony to the people in their neighborhood parks to which they can walk with family and friends and all our concerts are free.The orchestra is composed of 65 of Portland's finest classical musicians from the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Opera Orchestra, and musicians union Local 99. PFS performs a series of free concerts beginning the late July through early August at public parks throughout the city. Each season, over 15,000 people enjoy PFS concerts. Our Music Director, Gregory Vajda, encourages audience participation and invites the children to "join" the orchestra at a selected time by playing flutes and other instruments which are given to the children to play and take home as a souvenir.Portland Festival Symphony is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.