Blue Ash-Montgomery Symphony Orchestra

Picture a summer evening at Tom Stone Amphitheater in the Blue Ash Nature Park. Families are spread out on blankets, grandparents sit in lawn chairs, and a little girl is conducting along from the grass with a stick she found. The orchestra plays the last chord, the crowd stands up, and nobody had to buy a ticket.

That has been the Blue Ash Montgomery Symphony Orchestra for 40 years.

BAMSO started from a simple idea: professional orchestral music belongs to the whole community, not only the people who can pay for a seat. Four decades later, we still keep that promise. Every concert we perform is free. Each year more than 8,000 people come to hear us, from more than 115 zip codes across the Greater Cincinnati Region and beyond.

Free concerts aren’t free to put on. Musicians, music licensing, venues, sound, lighting and printed programs all cost money. Ticket sales cover none of it, because we don’t sell tickets. Gifts from neighbors like you keep the music going.

Here’s what your gift can do:

• $40, one dollar for every year of BAMSO - prints the sheet music for a whole section. That keeps the cellos on the same page, literally.
• $100 - gets 10 musicians a new folder. Our current folders have seen four decades of Beethoven, Bernstein, Mozart and outdoor humidity, and they’re ready to take a final bow.
• $400 - brings one guest performer to the stage. They get the applause, and you get the satisfaction of knowing you made the introduction.
• $1,000 - keeps a conductor at every BAMSO performance. Someone has to wave the stick, and it’s harder than it looks.

For 40 years, BAMSO has made sure music is something everyone can share. Help us continue with our next 40 years.

Our Mission: 
We believe that music enriches the lives of people of all ages. Through our diverse music programming, accessible venues and no cost concerts, we provide the citizens of Blue Ash, Montgomery and surrounding communities with an enjoyable, affordable quality music experience for audiences of all ages.