St. Louis Symphony Orchestra receives $160,000 grant from Bayer Fund to support IN UNISON programs

(July 12, 2021, St. Louis, MO) – Today, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announced it has been awarded a grant from Bayer Fund for $160,000 to support the orchestra’s IN UNISON programs, including the IN UNISON Church Program, the IN UNISON Chorus, and IN UNISON Academy.

Bayer Fund has supported the SLSO’s IN UNISON activities since the program’s inception in 1992 as a way to more meaningfully connect the St. Louis community and SLSO through music. Over the past 29 years, Bayer Fund has given the SLSO more than $8 million to help the orchestra create and sustain its IN UNISON programs. Today, the SLSO’s IN UNISON programs serve 15 counties in the bi-state region and impact more than 11,000 people each year.

Marie-Hélène Bernard, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra President and CEO, said, “We are deeply grateful for Bayer Fund’s visionary and longtime support of our IN UNISON programs. Thanks to their generous support, the SLSO has worked with community partners and fostered deeper relationships throughout our region. And together, through music, we help nurture a more equitable, inclusive, and diverse St. Louis.”

The SLSO’s IN UNISON program began in fall 1992 with the support of Bayer Fund and in partnership with the St. Louis Clergy Coalition to broaden connections between the SLSO and the greater St. Louis community through partner churches. What began as a pilot program with five African American partner churches has grown to 33 partner churches today. Through IN UNISON, the SLSO also launched a groundbreaking chorus dedicated to the performance and preservation of music from African American and African cultures, and has provided coaching, mentorship, and college assistance to more than 200 youth and young adults. Over the past year, the SLSO quadrupled the scope of its Peer to Peer program, an academic support program with roots in IN UNISON, to connect young musicians with SLSO musicians and musicians in the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra through weekly virtual learning sessions.

In 2020, Bayer Fund awarded more than $17 million to over 3,400 charitable and nonprofit organizations to help address essential needs in food and nutrition, STEM education and community development. Over the past five years, nonprofit organizations across the U.S. have received more than $80 million.

To learn more about Bayer Fund visit www.fund.bayer.us.