The Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra has released its 2025–26 Impact Report, covering the fiscal year from June 2025 through May 2026. It was the orchestra’s second season performing away from Memorial Auditorium, and the numbers show an orchestra that kept growing while it was away from home.
A bigger audience with a lot of new faces
Paid concert attendance during the 2025-26 season titled Symphonic Tapestries grew 34% over the previous season, with 3,281 people attending WFSO concerts and programs.
For the first time on record, single-ticket buyers made up the majority of the audience. They bought 66% of tickets, up from 42% the year before, and 341 people bought a WFSO ticket for the first time.
Longtime fans of the WFSO came back too! Season subscriptions rose 11% to 405, including 43 first-time subscribers.
The orchestra also welcomed guests who might not otherwise make it to a concert. More than 350 airmen and officers from Sheppard Air Force Base attended Woven in Song free of charge, and local teachers were guests of honor at the season-opening Hollywood Hits concert.
Individual giving hit a 10-year high
The 2025 Annual Fund raised $214,479 from 192 donors, passing its $200,000 goal. That’s the most individual giving the WFSO has seen in a decade, and 49 of those donors were giving for the first time.
Why that matters: ticket sales cover only about 20% of what it costs to put a full orchestra on stage. Generous community donors make up most of the difference.
$1.5 million for the local economy
Using the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) model from Americans for the Arts, the report estimates the WFSO generated about $1.5 million in economic activity across Texoma last season. That includes roughly $98,000 in concertgoer spending at local restaurants and shops, about 14 full-time-equivalent jobs, and an estimated $45,000 in local and state tax revenue.
In classrooms and around town
WFSO musicians spent more than 600 hours in WFISD classrooms through the Artist-in-Residence program. When January’s ice storm canceled the Young People’s Concert, classroom curriculum still reached more than 1,500 students. Starting this season, the annual Young People’s Concert moves to the fall semester so students hear it before they pick fine arts electives.
Around town, the orchestra brought back Estrellas y Sinfónicas for a second year and played free pop-up concerts during Art Walk. It also teamed up with the Arts Council of Wichita Falls for A Regency Affair.
On stage, the season included two world premieres by women composers: Catherine McMichael’s Blue Continent and Gala Flagello’s Athena, both commissioned through the Women Pioneers Commissioning Project.
What’s Next
The WFSO board has approved a strategic plan for 2026–2030, which lays the groundwork for the orchestra’s return to Memorial Auditorium in the 2027–28 season. In the meantime, new programs like Picture the Music and Check Out the Symphony are already underway.
