Organization Type: Music, Performing Arts
Mission: The mission of the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra has been to enrich the cultural life of Northwest Arkansas through high-quality orchestral music, while fostering education, community engagement, and accessibility to the performing arts.
Core mission elements have included:
- Presenting professional symphonic performances in Northwest Arkansas
- Supporting local and regional musicians
- Offering educational outreach for students and families
- Building community through collaborative and innovative programming
- Ensuring orhestral music remains relevant, inclusive, and accessible
Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra
Location: Bentonville
Organization Type: Music, Performing Arts
Events
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Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, ARThe roar of the stadium. The green of the field. A held breath erupting into victory—or defeat. Is it any wonder that sports inspire artists? With our latest exhibition, Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture, experience how today’s artists and designers respond to the drive, passion, culture, and systems surrounding...
$15 -
Watercolor Basics II: 3-Class Mini Series
NWA Healing Hub 524 W Sycamore St Suite 2, Fayetteville, United StatesIn this 3-part series, you’ll build on essential watercolor techniques with step-by-step instruction. You don’t need to have taken Watercolor Basics I to join—if you’re familiar with preparing paint mixtures, loading your brush, and cleaning your brush (whether through your own practice or another teacher), you're ready to participate. Throughout...
$108.55 -
The Machine Behind the Art: Inside JR’s Printing Press
The Momentary 507 SE E St, Bentonville, AR, United StatesThe Machine Behind the Art: Inside JR’s Printing Press is one of JR’s most extensive immersive and experiential works to date. After taking portraits in one of three individual photo booths, visitors enter the interior of an oversized, whirring printing press – turning their image into a tangible work of art...
Mission
The mission of the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra has been to enrich the cultural life of Northwest Arkansas through high-quality orchestral music, while fostering education, community engagement, and accessibility to the performing arts.
Core mission elements have included:
- Presenting professional symphonic performances in Northwest Arkansas
- Supporting local and regional musicians
- Offering educational outreach for students and families
- Building community through collaborative and innovative programming
- Ensuring orchestral music remains relevant, inclusive, and accessible
About
The people, the physical beauty, and cultural landmarks … there's no place like Northwest Arkansas. And no arts movement like the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra (APO). Under the direction of Maestro Steven Byess, the APO performs large masterworks and pops concerts with a contemporary twist. The APO collaborates with many other Arkansas arts organizations to present art in unexpected ways — often to unexpecting audiences. Claiming its name in 2010, the APO has been around since 2008.
The APO has always featured largely local professional musicians, welcomed world-class guest soloists and — a point of pride — provided musical education opportunities for local youth.
The Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 2009, emerging in direct response to the closure of the Northwest Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, which dissolved in 2008 after more than 50 years of service. Recognizing a major cultural void, a group of professional musicians and arts advocates established the APO as a musician-led orchestra, an innovative model emphasizing artistic input from performers themselves.
Throughout the 2010s, the APO became an important part of the Northwest Arkansas arts ecosystem, presenting concerts primarily at Walton Arts Center and other venues across Benton and Washington counties.
The orchestra emphasized flexible ensemble sizes, allowing it to adapt programming to venues and budgets while maintaining artistic excellence.
Education is a significant focus of the APO’s work. The orchestra developed:
- Youth concerts and school partnerships
- Educational performances tied to curriculum standards
- Opportunities for students to interact with professional musicians.
These efforts aligned with the region’s rapid population growth and increasing demand for arts education.