EDMONDS—At Cascade Symphony Orchestra in Edmonds, Snohomish County residents can catch breath-taking performances of the works of Beethoven, Strauss, and Wagner for a fraction of the price of major symphony tickets and without having to catch the light rail or combat interstate gridlock.
The Symphony, which performs at the Edmonds Center for the Arts (seating nearly 700 people), is offering a $125 season pass for its 64th Season, covering shows from October through May 2026. This is quite the steal compared to major Orchestra ticket prices ranging from $60 to $300 a show. Also, in an attempt to draw in a younger crowd, for the first time ever the symphony is offering a season ticket for ages 50 and below for only $115.
“The cost of a season ticket for our entire season is less than the typical cost for a single ticket for the Seattle Symphony,” said Executive Director Ed Benyas. “And we’re right in your neighborhood where you don’t have to fight traffic or pay for parking to go downtown to hear high-quality music.”
Back in June, the Cascade Symphony Orchestra released its 2025-2026 schedule, tackling some of classical music’s most ambitious works including Beethoven’s 5th, Brahms’ concertos, Bizet’s Carmen, and Mozart’s Symfonia Concertante. Tickets for a single show of these performances range from $5 (students) to $30 (adults).
“It’s really important for us to keep our ticket prices low and engage as many people as we can,” said Benyas.
The Cascade Symphony Orchestra, which performs with approximately 45 to 75 musicians at a time, depending on repertoire, is the oldest community orchestra in South Snohomish County. It was founded in 1962 by Robert Anderson who, at the time, was conducting the Bremerton Orchestra – traveling back and forth across the Sound with a band full of musicians. One day he thought why not bring high-quality classical music to my home in South Snohomish County? That year the orchestra was adopted into the Washington Charter and the orchestra played its first show in June.
During the concert season, each player contributes over 100 hours a year in weekly rehearsals. This adds up to a staggering total of 9,000 hours annually — donated by these many people to their community.
The orchestra’s primary sponsor is acclaimed travel writer Rick Steves who has supported the symphony, and its venue – the Edmonds Center for the Arts – for many years. The orchestra is also widely supported by grants and private donors. Just this year the orchestra received $12,500 from the Community Accelerator grant sponsored by ArtsFund and the Allen Family Philanthropies.
According to Executive Director Edward Benyas the Community Accelerator Grant was one of the “easiest grant applications” he ever had to deal with. He informed the Lynnwood Times the grant will go towards paying for administrative costs and various operating expenses.
Edward Benyas, Executive Director of the Cascade Symphony Orchestra since 2023, was a life-long Midwesterner prior to relocating to Washington. Benyas and his wife have been wanting to relocate to the Pacific Northwest for years so when he heard about the position opening, he leapt at the opportunity.
Prior to working as Executive Director for the Orchestra, Benyas was an Oboe college professor and Director of Orchestras in Southern Illinois for nearly 30-years while working as a professional musician.
“It’s been a great pleasure. There’s been really, really, nice people to work with. We have a 14-member board and it’s a real working board. Everyone has their responsibilities and are all pitching in to make the orchestra better,” said Benyas.
About two-thirds of the Orchestra’s board is also a member of the orchestra.
Edmonds Center for the Arts will once again be the Cascade Symphony’s home for its concerts, with the orchestra’s “Opening Night and Piano Celebration” concert kicking off its 64th season on Monday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Young pianists Aaron Jin and Jeffrey Zhao, winners of the prestigious Eastside Piano Competition and Willard Schultz Scholarship, will perform two exciting works for piano and orchestra with the CSO.
Cascade Symphony’s tradition for the Christmas season will feature two identical “Holiday Pops” concerts on Sunday, Dec. 14 and Monday, Dec. 15. This event is performed twice to accommodate the overwhelming community demand. Soprano Kristin Vogel, acclaimed for her powerful lyric voice and onstage intensity, will return to celebrate the season with inspiring songs and famous operatic arias. A regular performer in Europe and the United States, Ms. Vogel divides her time between Vienna and the Pacific Northwest.
Shortly after 2026 rolls in, the orchestra’s “Beethoven’s Fifth” concert on Monday, Jan. 12, will feature works by Beethoven, Wagner and Janacek. The soloist will be Sunnat Ibragimov, a cellist from Uzbekistan and current member of the Seattle Symphony. He previously served as principal cellist of the prestigious Tanglewood Festival Orchestra. Ibragimov will perform Edouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D Minor.
On Monday, March 9, sisters Jacqueline and Katherine Audas will perform Brahms’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello with the Cascade Symphony. Jacqueline (violin) Katherine (cello) are members of the Seattle Symphony. The “Brahms Double Concerto” concert will also feature Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 3, Herold’s Overture to the opera Zampa, and the half-hour long Langsam movement from Mahler’s Third Symphony.
The final concert of the season, “From Mozart to Bernstein,” will be Monday, May 4, and will feature the Northwestern Winds performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for solo Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and orchestra. The other works on this program are Dvořák’s Overture to the opera Vanda, Bernstein’s Overture to West Side Story, Ward’s America the Beautiful, and Respighi’s Roman Festivals.
Author: Kienan Briscoe
