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PO Box 53123

The Bellevue Philharmonic is the only professional orchestra in East King County and was founded by R. Joseph Scott as an all-volunteer community group in 1967. After thirty years of increasing professionalism and musicianship, the Board of Directors decided to transform the orchestra into a fully-professional organization and launched an international search for a new music director. Maestro Fusao Kajima accepted the position in April 1998 and began conducting the orchestra in September of that year. The orchestra became fully-professional in 1999, paying all musicians and employing full-time paid administrative staff.

The Bellevue Philharmonics mission is to excite, enrich, and entertain, through live orchestral music, all generations and communities on the Greater Eastside. In pursuit of this mission, the Philharmonic offers approximately twenty diverse concerts each year including the July 4th performance as part of the Bellevue Downtown Family 4th Celebration, as well as an educational outreach program, Sound Adventures in Schools.