Founded in 1995, NWS is a professional orchestra that, under the direction of Grammy-winning Music Director Michael Christie, draws its players from the rich talent pool of Los Angeles-area professional musicians. NWS presents 12 Masterpiece concerts annually, performing major works from the symphonic repertoire with internationally-acclaimed artists as guest soloists. NWS is the resident company of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and Rancho Campana Performing Arts Center in Camarillo, reaching out to 2,500 concert goers each concert weekend performed.

NWS is a significant cultural and educational institution in the community. As a service-oriented organization, we provide quality outreach and educational opportunities to over 16,000 students in Ventura County each year through our annual Symphonic Adventures concert programs for youth, our traveling Music Van, VIP Family Club, CONNECT! Club, Quick Bowman Youth Piano Competition and Recital, Masterclasses Educational Outreach, and Laby Harmony Project. New West Symphony education programs reach out to 16 school districts in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. During the pandemic season, the organization created new online programs, including artists’ interviews, music education lectures and lifestyle content reflecting the culture, music, and tradition of our region. GLOBAL SOUNDS, LOCAL CULTURES, introduced education and entertaining 4-day festivals to celebrate and embrace diverse cultural traditions and societies that profoundly impacted each other’s music over the centuries. Curated by ethnomusicologists and incorporating musical traditions of cultures represented here in Southern California, each explored traditions through world music and instruments, and renowned guest artists. This project included 29 online events and reached viewers in 55 countries. We collaborated with 17 cultural organizations and 27 guest artists, 66% from BIPOC communities, in the music and traditions of 7 cultures through their influence on western classical music and vice versa.