The Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra on Parade

(Courtesy of the Harney County Library Claire McGill Luce Western History Room)

Although many people may know that Oregon is home to America’s oldest youth orchestra, with the Portland Youth Philharmonic claiming this honor, many of these people would be dead wrong. While the Portland Youth Philharmonic did exist in 1924, this youth group did not begin in Portland and had existed prior to 1924. In 1910, Mary Dodge, a classically trained violinist with a deep love of children and a democratic view of making music, arrived in Burns.^[1] At this time, the small and somewhat culturally-bare town was in the middle of a homesteading boom. With a growing population, a ravenous hunger for culture began to grow and grow. Dodge, who often played her violin where the public could hear the music, drew in a relatively large crowd of children; all of whom became fascinated with music and held a desire to learn. In 1912, the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra formed and consisted of thirty to thirty-five discipline, skilled musicians—most of whom came in at four feet or under.^[2] Six years later, the Dodge’s would move to Portland with some of their students following behind.

Notes

^[1] Ronald Russell, A New West to Explore (Boston: Marshall Jones, 1938), 73.

^[2] Russell, 75-6.