Philadelphia Orchestra

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The Philadelphia Orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the "Big Five" symphony orchestras in the United States and usually considered among the finest in the world. Since 2001, its annual series of concerts have been performed in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Verizon Hall, near the Academy of Music, its old home of a century since the orchestra was founded in 1900.

1 History
2 Music Directors
3 References
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] History

The orchestra was founded in 1900 by Fritz Scheel, who also acted as its first conductor. In 1907, Karl Pohlig took over the post, but it was Leopold Stokowski, who became principal conductor in 1912, who brought it to prominence. Under him, the orchestra gained a reputation for great virtuosity, and developed what is known as the "Philadelphia sound". It was under Stokowski's direction that the orchestra was featured in the 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia.

In 1936, Eugene Ormandy joined the organization, and jointly held the post of Principal Conductor with Stokowski until 1938, when he took over the role full-time. He remained with the orchestra for 44 years, and many of the orchestra's best-known recordings were made under his baton. Ormandy took the orchestra on its historic 1973 tour of the People's Republic of China, where they were the first Western orchestra to visit that country in many decades. They were wildly popular in China, and have since returned for three more successful tours. Ormandy was succeeded by Riccardo Muti (Music Director 1980-92) and Wolfgang Sawallisch (1993-2003). In 2003, Christoph Eschenbach took over as music director. Eschenbach recently announced that he would leave after the 2007-2008 season. Due to scheduling commitments, it is likely that the Orchestra will be without a music director at least for the 2008-2009 season. [1]

The Philadelphia Orchestra also boasts an extraordinary record of media firsts. It was the first symphony orchestra to make electrical recordings (in 1925), the first to perform its own commercially sponsored radio broadcast (in 1929, on NBC), the first to perform on the soundtrack of a feature film (Paramount's The Big Broadcast of 1937), the first to appear on a national television broadcast (in 1948, on CBS), the first American orchestra to record the complete Beethoven symphonies on compact disc (in 1988), and the first major orchestra to give a live cybercast of a concert on the Internet (in 1997). On September 21, 2006 the Philadelphia Orchestra became the first major United States orchestra to sell downloads of their performances directly from the orchestra's website. While other American orchestras have downloads of their music on the internet, the Philadelphia Orchestra says it's the first to offer the downloads without a distributor.<ref>Stearns, David Patrick (September 21 2006). Philadelphia Orchestra enters the ear-bud age. The Philadelphia Inquirer.</ref>

In other firsts, the Orchestra made diplomatic history in 1973 when it became the first American orchestra to tour the People's Republic of China, performing in Beijing's Great Hall of the People. In 1999, under Wolfgang Sawallisch, it became the first American orchestra to visit Vietnam. More recently, the orchestra appointed Carol Jantsch principal tuba as of 2006 - 2007, and according to the announcement, it is possible that she is the first full-time female principal tuba player of an American orchestra.<ref>Philadelphia Orchestra announces winner of principal tuba auditions (PDF). Philadelphia Orchestra (February 27, 2006). Retrieved on September 22, 2006.</ref>

The Philadelphia Orchestra performs more than 130 concerts during its winter subscription season from September to May. In its summer season spanning June and July, it performs at Philadelphia's outdoor Mann Center for the Performing Arts, followed by a three-week residency in August at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in upstate New York. In July 2007, the Orchestra will begin a residency at the Bravo! Vail Valley Festival in Vail, Colorado.<ref>The Philadelphia Orchestra - Where We Play (HTML); accessed 2006-08-13.</ref>

The Philadelphia Orchestra's current concertmaster is David Kim. The Associate Conductor of the orchestra is Rossen Milanov.<ref>Staff Conductors. Philadelphia Orchestra. Retrieved on September 22, 2006.</ref>

[edit] Music Directors

Christoph Eschenbach (2003–leaving in 2008)
Wolfgang Sawallisch (1993–2003)
Riccardo Muti (1980–1992)
Eugene Ormandy (1936–1980)
Leopold Stokowski (1912–1938)
Carl Pohlig (1908–1912)
Fritz Scheel (1900–1907)

[edit] References

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Philadelphia Portal

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[edit] Further reading

The Philadelphia Orchestra: A Century of Music, edited by John Ardoin. 1999, Temple University Press, 240 pages.
Those Fabulous Philadelphians, by Herbert Kupferberg. 1969, Scribner's New York, 257 pages.
Riccardo Muti: Twenty Years in Philadelphia 1972-92, edited by Judith Karp Kurnick. 1992, Philadelphia Orchestra, 112 pages.
The Philadelphia Orchestra Celebrates Sawallisch 1993-2003, edited by Sedgwick Clark. 2003, Philadelphia Orchestra, 80 pages.
Within These Walls: A History of the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, by John Francis Marion. 1984, Academy of Music/Philadelphia Orchestra, 328 pages.

Philadelphia Maestros: Ormandy, Muti, Sawallisch, by Phyllis White Rodríguez Peralta. 2006, Temple University Press, 192 pages.