Mission: The San Juan Symphony is an innovative regional orchestra that contributes to the cultural and educational enrichment of the diverse communities of the Four Corners area with inspiring live performances and creative collaborative efforts.

In the early 1970’s, community musicians in Farmington, New Mexico and Durango, Colorado founded two separate orchestras. Today, the combined groups form the core of a regional, per-service orchestra that draws musicians from the entire Four Corners region. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors whose members are drawn from Farmington and Durango. The San Juan Symphony performs regularly at Henderson Fine Arts Center at San Juan College in Farmington, NM, at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, and has performed at the Bayfield Performing Arts Center in Bayfield, CO, the Michael D. Palm Theater in Telluride, CO, and Montezuma-Cortez High School in Cortez, CO.

The San Juan Symphony is a member of the League of American Orchestras. After a year-long search in 2015-16, Dr. Thomas Heuser was appointed as the fifth Music Director of the San Juan Symphony in March 2016, succeeding Music Director Laureate Arthur Post. Dr. Heuser also serves as Music Director of the Idaho Falls Symphony Orchestra.

The San Juan Symphony strives to represent the Four Corners by championing music that reflects the mix of cultures in the region. Local lands, and the lives of the people who live on it, are often the focus of thematic programming, with a belief that the great classics are enriched when they are performed alongside contemporary, world and folk music. The Symphony has collaborated with area fine artists, both student and professional, to create projects that produce a synergy of the visual and performing arts.

The organization provides exceptional orchestral training through the San Juan Symphony Youth Orchestra program. The Youth Orchestras offer the only full orchestra experience for junior and senior high school students in the Four Corners, and represent a close collaboration with Fort Lewis College in Durango. Masterclasses by guest soloists and lectures by the music director are part of the Symphony’s extensive education and outreach program.