During their 2025–2026 season, the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra (BSO) launched BRAVISSIMO!, a brand new community for folks aged 21–39.
BRAVISSIMO! was inspired by Seattle Opera’s BRAVO!, a highly successful young patrons group created in 1996. BSO Executive Director and Co-Principal Oboe Gail Ridenour brought the idea of adapting it for BSO to the table. After partnering with Seattle Opera and learning more about the program, BSO Administrative Coordinator Isabelle Kepner took on the task of designing a young patrons community tailored to Bellingham.
Photograph courtesy of Bellingham Symphony Orchestra
The cornerstone of the program is made up of its free-to-attend Salon BRAVISSIMO! happy-hour gatherings at Hotel Leo’s Amendment 21 bar and lounge.
“We’re really harkening back to the tradition of a salon, the French parlor where people would meet and discuss anything and everything,” says Kepner.
In addition to socializing, the salons are an opportunity to connect with classical music through its “rich, dramatic past.” They take place on the Saturday before a BSO concert, and feature an engaging presentation about the history behind each concert’s music.
Photograph courtesy of Bellingham Symphony Orchestra
“[Each salon] takes our very popular Pre-Concert Talks and takes it out of the concert hall, bringing classical music out to the community,” says Kepner. “It’s saucy, scandalous, the real fun history that you can’t get into for the all-ages concert talk. It’s just been an absolute blast.”
If you’re a young adult looking for community, culture, and “the often outrageous stories behind classical music’s most iconic figures,” don’t miss the last two Salon BRAVISSIMO! gatherings of the season on April 25 and May 30! Bellingham, 360.756.6752, bellinghamsymphony.org
