In a city that takes great pride in our musical talent, both on and off the stage, the Austin Volunteer Orchestra (AVO) is a project of cultural importance. The musical landscape creates natural separations in the art and business of Austin. From genres to venues, audiences to artists, within our community are divisions of labor and love that inevitably resonate for resolution. AVO offers a key to harmonizing the advantages already existing while augmenting the positive and diminishing the negatives. A talent base so large and a means to interrelate resources on and off the stage opens an opportunity to exemplify Austin as the “creative capital of the world.”

A touring showcase of talent providing the audience with rare ensembles crossing genres into a living, educational process for all: artist, audience, and business. Locally active and audience driven, AVO provides a working model in the music community for individuals to become more informed in their efforts. Musically, AVO is a focal for artists to work together in pursuit of new creative frontiers. Economically, AVO promotes the individuals’ existing works with a more prestigious showcase for their talent and product; as well, our efforts bring new markets together benefiting venue, artist, and most importantly, audience. The awareness level in and of Austin music, justified in a history of communal thinking and interweaving of tremendous efforts, creates a strong sense of natural musical progression. Now is the birth of living tradition; an orchestra of understanding that a true American art form, studied for generations in Texas, has challenged Austin to condense a history of culture into music.