What is PBO?
Emerging twenty years ago as a grass-roots cooperative of musicians, the orchestra has matured as a polished, professional organization with a loyal and committed audience that now numbers some 1000 subscription ticket holders and 1100 single-ticket purchasers. The group offers performances in downtown Portland at the First Baptist Church and at Kaul Auditorium on the Reed College campus. PBO inhabits a modest yet critical niche in the Portland arts community. PBO’s highly specialized orchestral mission complements the Oregon Symphonys broader purpose. Its narrow focus contrasts well with Friends of Chamber Music and Chamber Music Northwest and its vocal offerings are on a different scale from those of Portland Opera. PBO joins the others to offer the classical music lover a multi-faceted array of options. The Portland Baroque Orchestra specializes in performing baroque and classical music on original instruments, or replicas, from the time the music was composed. These instruments, an
