The Open Air Orchestra Society was incorporated as a non-profit society in the winter of 2007. Led by a group of amateur musicians who loved their community music group, The Carnival Band, the society was formed to promote ensemble playing and advocacy throughout the city. In 2015, our society then created a daughter projected called The Greenhorn Community Music Project to increase access to musical mentorship and education to children of all ages. In 2018, we added our own version of an activist street band festival, Honk! BC and began to invite bands from afar and near to rock the streets, parks and beaches of Vancouver.
We strive to build partnerships with Vancouver’s rich resource of professionally trained musicians to conduct public workshops in creative performance. We focus on culturally diverse and locally composed musical performance, with the vision of fostering community spirit, empowerment, creativity, and skill.