The move to First Presbyterian Church of Waynesboro (one of the Symphony’s two current regular performance venues), allowed for the group to expand its size and move into performing larger works including Chopin, Schumann and Mendelssohn Piano Concertos, the Nielsen Violin Concerto, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, Bizet arias from Carmen, and Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony — mostly “non-brass” works. Maestro Stassen described his mindset for growing the young orchestra as “progressively incremental”. He felt it was important not to over-tax the skill level of the community orchestra players too quickly, as this might cause them to leave the ensemble. A more gradual raising of the difficulty level of the music would ensure a collective growth and maturity of the orchestra as a whole.

After 10 successful years of continued growth, Eric Stassen departed to pursue an advanced degree. At his departing concert, he contributed a generous gift to the Orchestra by matching the monies raised for its 10^th season fundraiser — which was also when the name was officially changed to Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra. After a conductor search, cellist Jean Montès was chosen to lead WSO, but he stayed just one year. Peter Wilson was hired in 2007 and has since breathed a new level of possibility into the organization.

When Peter Wilson was interviewing to assume the role of Music Director, one of the orchestra musicians asked, ‘’Why in the world would you want to drive all the way down from DC to work with our little orchestra?!” Peter’s response was two-fold; his first response being mostly tongue-in-cheek, “Who wouldn’t want to get out of DC — even for just a few hours each week?!” This followed with a more heartfelt, “I grew up playing in a community orchestra in my hometown in West Virginia, so I know first-hand how important, impactful, and fun this experience can be for members of the community, both in the ensemble and for patrons.”

From his first day in 2007 to the present, Peter has seen the WSO as a teaching orchestra and has always worked to keep that as one of the important mission elements of the group. A violinist with the White House Orchestra of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, Peter had just been appointed String Section Commander of the Marine Band at the same time he began serving as WSO Music Director. Peter envisioned it would take about three to five years to build the core of the WSO string section to the point of being able to program larger and more challenging late 19^th and 20^thcentury symphonic works. Once the trust was firmly established between Peter and the WSO Strings and great progress was made, it was time to approach the Board of Directors with a plan to fund all principal chairs in the orchestra beyond just the string principals. The success of the now annual Principal Chair Fundraising Dinner proved to be a turning point in the growth of the Waynesboro Symphony – one that led to more rapid progress in all aspects of the ensemble and organization.

Appointing effective mentors to lead each section helps nurture the amateur players regarding not only how to approach the music, but also how to blend one’s sound to form a more unified ensemble. This has led the WSO to reach new heights and achievements, including earning The American Prize in 2021 for “Best Community Orchestra Performance” based on its live recording of Mahler’s First Symphony.

Just as Eric Stassen used an incremental approach to building the Orchestra’s repertoire, Maestro Wilson mapped out his early years with the orchestra by programming repertoire progressively more challenging over the three masterworks programs of a given season, concluding with the more ambitious works requiring technique developed in the earlier programs. Highlights from recent seasons have included performances of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony, Pärt’s Third Symphony, Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, Stravinsky’s Suite from “The Firebird,” Holst’s “The Planets,” Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story,” Saint-Saëns’ Third “Organ” Symphony, and William Grant Still’s “Afro-American” Symphony.

For well over a decade now, the WSO has performed its annual Pops Fundraising Concert “Symphonic Masquerade” at The Paramount Theater in Charlottesville each October, and as of 2021, they have added an annual Holiday Pops Fundraising Concert in December. These events have helped grow the WSO patron base while offering a new and expansive repertoire to a wider audience.