In 1939, in a community far from recovered from the Great Depression, a group of Greenfield residents banded together, deciding that western Massachusetts needed a symphony orchestra.

Only six years earlier, one in 10 people in Greenfield were unemployed, and one in eight were dependent on the welfare department. According to “History of Greenfield, Massachusetts 1930–1953, Vol. IV” by Charles Sidney Severance, “Business and commercial life was almost at a standstill … lines were a block long … on Court Square, as unemployed by the hundreds… sought the meager food and clothing available.”

But now it was 1939 and the country was pulling out of despair, and Greenfield wanted music. Soon after, the Pioneer Valley Symphony was born.

An early leader was Harold Alexander Leslie, who later went on to establish the Springfield Symphony. Local presidents included Stanley Reid, Howard Burnham, “Mrs. Barney Michaelman,” and James E. Cleary. (I recognize some of those names. Don’t you?)

Severance writes that Greenfield became a “mecca” for devotees and players of classical music and notes the “fierce dedication” of its musicians, drawn from villages and cities from Brattleboro, Vermont, to Hartford, Connecticut, and the unwavering loyalty of its audience.

Those are the origins of the Pioneer Valley Symphony, and that is the Pioneer Valley Symphony today.

I have never been able to figure out quite how I became a classical music fan. Neither of my parents were musicians, but there were classical music records (Peer Gynt, Bolero, Scheherazade) in the house that we danced around to as kids. Years of exposure to Chopin, Delibes and Liszt in the ballet classes of Mary Gexler probably played a part in developing my taste.

All I know is that as soon as I was old enough to drive, I would borrow the family car and go to the symphony, then conducted by the formidable Nathan Gottschalk. I loved the full auditorium; the rustle of the formal clothes worn by some patrons; the sharp, somber orchestra in their crisp black suits and tailored dresses. The chaos of the tuning, the conductor’s bow and lifted arms, and then the glorious meld of strings, horns and woodwinds into a magnificent sound. I was hooked.

Eighty-eight years after this small community decided they couldn’t do without a symphony orchestra — a real orchestra, with distinguished conductors, ambitious repertoire, renowned guest soloists, and youth engagement — the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra is going strong. At least 150 musicians from far and wide rehearse 30 weeks out of the year to bring you a season this year of “Hope and Joy,” with the opening concert happening this Saturday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. right here at Greenfield High School.

Won’t you join us in celebrating the launch of this 88th season? And when you do, think of the determination and foresight of those who knew that even in troubled times, music has the power to bring us together, to open our eyes and ears, and lift us out of ourselves and into a world of possibilities.

Patricia Crosby, of Gill, is a board member of the Pioneer Valley Symphony.