The Apollo Orchestra

Founded in 2010, Apollo is the Washington DC area’s FREE professional orchestra. Our vision is to present classical orchestral and opera music at a very high performance standard in local Washington area communities. We feature up-close live music experiences at easy to access, informal, family friendly neighborhood venues. Typically, free parking is also available. We make it easy to attend a live concert! Over the years, our concert events have become gathering places for neighborhoods to re-connect and enjoy high quality concert events together.

The Orchestra is comprised of many of the Washington and Mid Atlantic areas’ finest and most experienced freelance professional musicians. Many are also members of the premiere U.S. military bands, a source of highly skilled players unique to Washington. It is part of Apollo’s mission to support the freelance and military player communities. Most of our musicians continue to play together with Apollo for many years.

Apollo’s soloists feature many national and international level instrumentalists and opera stars. Many of our recurring soloists are principal players of America’s most prestigious orchestras, who also engage in significant solo careers. These “musician’s musicians” connect well with our orchestra musicians, with whom they have much in common. We also frequently arrange and support local masterclasses by these soloists to provide training for advanced young musicians in our area.

We also feature a small group of leading development programs associated with America’s very top opera companies, as well as occasional winners of major instrumental and vocal competitions. Some especially vibrant Apollo concerts have featured these up-and-coming young performers, right on the verge of their international careers, and they are known to return to Apollo in later years after they have become well established on the world’s major stages.

Apollo has been funded since its inception entirely by The Downing Family Foundation. This unique long-term single-source funding model, combined with an experienced senior management team who volunteer their time, eliminates substantial administrative costs typically incurred by classical orchestras. This in turn allows Apollo to maintain its FREE admission policy so as to serve the widest possible audiences in our local communities, including families and others who might not otherwise choose to attend classical concerts.

Our guiding principle is to give audiences meaningful emotional experiences that are more than worth the effort of attending live music events. Apollo concerts include music by major classical and opera composers from the last three centuries, often including works that are not often performed along with major masterpieces. We play music our players and soloists want to play and that challenges them as well. We also occasionally present recent or newly commissioned works from important living composers where that has something special to offer our local audiences.