Just as Pacific Northwest Ballet was sired by Seattle Opera, so Seattle Opera is a child of the Seattle Symphony. The same extraordinary musicians, members of the Seattle Symphony Opera and Players’ Organization, play for both groups. The Seattle Symphony has become known as “America’s Wagner Orchestra,” thanks to the musicians’ many years of experience playing Wagner (as well as a series of recordings made with Gerard Schwarz, music director from 1983 through 2011). The Symphony has completed more than 140 recordings, received 12 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards, and numerous other accolades. Seattle Opera, with its diverse repertory, has benefited enormously from their ability to play in a wide range of styles. For the first 35 years of Seattle Opera’s life, symphony concerts also took place in the Seattle Opera House. But in 1998 Seattle Symphony moved to the acoustically superb Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle—one of the world’s finest concert venues.