The Symphony is a per-service professional orchestra comprised of musicians from Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Springfield, Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Norman, Dallas, Little Rock, New York, Florida, and other communities. The orchestra performs classical, pops, youth and community concerts in Fort Smith and surrounding areas. In recent years, the Symphony has seen tremendous artistic and financial growth. The majority of the Symphony subscription concerts are sold out. The orchestra is also presently experiencing a large increase in attendance by young audience members and families. The Fort Smith Symphony’s two internationally released compact discs/downloads on the Naxos label (2005 and 2009) have been listed as bestsellers on numerous websites. Both recordings are part of Naxos’ popular “American Classics Series” and feature the music of William Grant Still, (1895- 1978), who was raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. With Still’s many successful compositions, he earned the nickname, “Dean of African-American composers.” The recordings have received dozens of terrific reviews and have been and continue to be broadcasted on hundreds of classical music stations around the world. Reviews have compared the Symphony’s performances to major orchestras and frequently mention the orchestra’s wonderful artistic qualities. A third recording on Naxos was made in April 2011, and completed the first-ever recorded cycle of all five William Grant Still symphonies. The compact discs/ downloads include other orchestral works besides Still’s symphonies. Six of the works recorded are world premiere recordings. The Symphony recorded with Naxos again in May 2018 with symphonies by Florence Price. The Price CD is scheduled for release later this year. Naxos is the largest classical label in the world. The Fort Smith Symphony recordings are available from all classical/popular music retail websites, as well as many big box music retailers internationally. Log on to www.naxos.com for more information.