Founded in 2016, AFOPO is an independent US non-profit organization, tax exempt under Section 501 (c)(3) of the US Internal Revenue Code and is governed by its own board of directors, the majority of whom are US citizens/permanent residents who are independent members. As a recognized US Charity, AFOPO is an entity through which US taxpayers, including Oxford alumni, Americans living abroad, those who adore and enjoy fine music and our international friends may make tax deductible donations, to the extent allowed by law.

Since 2016, the American Friends of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra (AFOPO) has been proud to serve as a dynamic cultural bridge between America and Great Britain. AFOPO has raised funds for the Orchestra’s performances in the US and UK, its 20th Anniversary celebrations on both sides of the Atlantic, its Carnegie Hall debut in 2022, tours and recordings.

Highlights of the past few years include the first performance in the USA by Members of the Orchestra, with guest artist Maxim Vengerov in a concert and black-tie dinner at the Metropolitan Club, New York, annual concert and black-tie dinners in London at the Wallace Collection museum where we have been joined by guest artists such as Joyce DiDonato, Nicola Benedetti and Sir Bryn Terfel, and a Gala Concert and Dinner at Buckingham Palace hosted by HRH Princess Alexandra, Royal Patron of the Orchestra. 

In 2019 we organized a Patrons’ Trip to Athens, Greece, with special recitals, a premiere at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, and dinners at historic monuments; a concert and dinner at The Frick Collection museum in New York City celebrating the Orchestra’s 20th anniversary; and a concert and dinner in the new NATO Headquarters in Brussels, hosted by the Deputy Secretary General, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the longest military alliance in history.

In 2022 the Orchestra made its Carnegie Hall debut, in a concert ‘enmeshed in soul-enriching playing’ (Oberon’s Grove) of ‘world-class quality’ (Blogcritics), with guest artist Maxim Vengerov and also joined by six young violinists from the Juilliard Pre-College Division.

In 2023 the Orchestra celebrates its Silver Jubilee Year, joined by guest artists including Evgeny Kissin, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Nigel Kennedy and Martha Argerich, and with international tours to Germany, Vienna and Dubai.