Mission

The Pacific Musical Society & Foundation, founded in 1910 as the Pacific Musical Society, is the oldest active musical organization in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since our inception, we have nurtured the growth and careers of many young classical musicians through our annual competition, with former winners including such musical luminaries as Yehudi Menuhin, Leon Fleisher, Ruggiero Ricci, Ruth Slenczynska, and Matt Haimovitz. 

Our goal is to help serious students of classical music emerge from their training with the resources and support to succeed in their nascent careers. Besides directly supporting students with financial scholarships, we also seek to provide them with access to prominent professionals, creating opportunities for feedback, learning, and connection. More broadly, we aim to tackle some of the broader, systemic problems that create roadblocks for young musicians pursuing a career in classical music. Your financial support directly contributes to our mission. Click here to donate.

Competition & Scholarships

Our prestigious annual competition identifies the next generation of stellar young artists and provides significant scholarship support to help them in their careers. The competition’s rigorous entry requirements and direct feedback from top-tier judges set it apart from others in the Bay Area and make it particularly meaningful for top young musicians. Additionally, in the last several years, ours has been the most financially supportive competition for young musicians in the Bay Area. Pacific Musical also facilitates broader opportunities for performance, feedback and learning, and exposure for our competition participants and winners.

As we expand the scope of the competition, enlisting prominent classical musicians around the world as adjudicators, we are expanding opportunities for competition participants to connect with and receive feedback from some of the most respected and influential musicians in the international classical music community. This format will be uniquely available to students in the Bay Area through the work of the Pacific Musical Society & Foundation.

Long-Term Career Support for Classical Musicians

In addition to our flagship competition, Pacific Musical Society & Foundation is also developing initiatives to provide support that helps our students navigate barriers in the field of classical music and put them on a path to a fulfilling and self-sustaining career.

We believe it is necessary to bring attention to, discuss, and remedy the many challenges to the field of classical music today. Important issues in music education, career opportunity, and the financial viability of musical arts organizations raise troubling questions about its continued vitality as an art form. Books such as The Crisis of Classical Music in America: Lessons from a Life in the Education of Musicians, by Robert Freeman, The Perilous Life of Symphony Orchestras: Artistic Triumphs and Economic Challenges, by Robert Flanagan, Curtains?: The Future of the Arts in America, by Michael Kaiser, Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music, by Blair Tindall, Producing Excellence: The Making of Virtuosos, by Izabella Wagner, Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall, by Joseph Horowitz, and Who Killed Classical Music?: Maestros, Managers, and Corporate Politics, by Norman Lebrecht, together suggest a bleak picture for classical music’s future, not only in the U.S. but worldwide.

If these challenges are not addressed, the student musicians we support will continue to face an uphill battle in their careers, even with the best of support networks. The challenges facing classical music are well-known among professional musicians, yet are rarely brought to the attention of the public. It is a natural extension of our mission to consider these challenges, helping ensure that the students we support with scholarships today will have the best chance at a viable and fulfilling career tomorrow.