It presents a concert series each summer that takes place mid-July through Labor Day weekend at Shrine Mont in Orkney Springs, Virginia.

[3] Past artists have included Bruce Hornsby, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Home Free, The Temptations, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kenny G, LeAnn Rimes, Ricky Skaggs, Kris Kristofferson, Pure Prairie League, Poco, and The Beach Boys.

Despite the Coronavirus epidemic in 2020, the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival still took place with strict public safety measures.

In the early 1960s Helen M. Thompson, executive secretary of the American Symphony Orchestra League, and Col. Robert Benchoff, Headmaster of the Massanutten Military Academy, sought to bring symphonic music to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.

[2] Under the artistic direction of conductor Dr. Richard Lert, they hosted the Shenandoah Valley Music Festival's first concert, held in the gymnasium of the Massanutten Military Academy in 1963.

The Festival remained purely symphonic until the early 1980s but has since branched into hosting a multitude of genres including rock, country, bluegrass, folk, Americana, and pop.

1976: All Shenandoah Valley Music Festival summer concerts were moved to the Outdoor Pavilion on the grounds of the Orkney Springs Hotel.

1985: The Katharine Benchoff Performance Awards were established to recognize outstanding skill and accomplishments by Shenandoah Valley high school students.

The Festival receives the Shenandoah Bowl, the SVTA’s highest award for contributions to the Valley’s tourism industry.

James Carville and Mary Matalin narrated Aaron Copeland’s “Lincoln Portrait” with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra.

Orkney Springs pavilion transformed into movie house for “Charlie Chaplin at the Symphony.” 2010: Grammy award winners Ronnie Milsap, Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Temptations perform.

The PSO performs two concerts during the season and co-sponsors a summer strings camp in Shenandoah County Public Schools with the SVMF.

The Festival also drew more than 1,300 patrons to see Bruce Hornsby and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and more than 1,000 people came out to see LeAnn Rimes.

2017: This concert season featured the Wayback Weekend Celebration July 21 and 22, featuring Arlo Guthrie and a 50th anniversary celebration of  the Summer of Love with the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra and its rock band, performing all the songs made famous by the Beatles and others associated the historic 1967 gathering of hippies in San Francisco.

The event featured video of space imagery produced by NASA, specifically for “The Planets,”  and stargazing with telescopes provided by the Shenandoah Astronomical Society.