Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maestro Edvard Tchivzhel in rehearsal (Fort Wayne Philharmonic)

The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra is a professional orchestra based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The orchestra's music director is Edvard Tchivzhel (born 1944), a native of Russia. The assistant conductor is Bradley Thachuk, a native of Canada. The orchestra performs mainly in the historic Embassy Centre and the Arts United Center.

1 History
2 The Orchestra Today
3 Broadcasts and Recordings
4 Tchivzhel To Leave
5 External Links
6 Sources

[edit] History

The orchestra was founded in 1944. It has been part of the city's musical heritage continuously since its debut in October 1944, and dramatically expanded its concert programming in the 1945-1946 season, presenting 14 programs with pianist William Kapell, violinist Yehudi Menuhin and tenor Mario Lanza among the guest artists. Over the years, the Philharmonic has performed with many renowned pop artists, including Benny Goodman, Skitch Henderson, Burt Bacharach, Aretha Franklin, Doc Severinsen, The Smothers Brothers, Henry Mancini, Pete Fountain, and Air Supply.

Prior to Tchivzhel, the orchestra's music director was Ronald Ondrejka, who had previously served as music director of the Monterey Symphony Orchestra (1960-61), assistant conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (1961-63) under Josef Krips, and conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Ondrejka, who frequently programmed American music, was also actively involved with the music program at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Among other former music directors of the Philharmonic was Igor Buketoff (1914-2001), who made numerous recordings and was known for his educational work. He was particularly known for his performances of Russian music, especially Rachmaninoff, and he contributed to Vox's multi-disc tribute to early American Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1969). The New York Times reported that Buketoff died in New York City on September 7, 2001, at the age of 87.

Igor Buketoff with children and the NBC Orchestra in a 1963 NBC telecast

[edit] The Orchestra Today

Today, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic carries on its musical tradition under the direction of Edvard Tchivzhel. Its 480 orchestra and chamber ensemble performances are attended by more than 220,000 people. Since 1980 the orchestra has won five awards for adventuresome programming" from ASCAP, the American Society of composers, Authors and Publishers. In addition, its Education Programs are created to inspire the love of classical music in people of all ages. The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus, directed by Robert Nance, participates in several concerts each year.

The current season runs from September through May. Concerts are divided into several categories:

Masterworks Series - devoted to major orchestral works, sometimes with instrumental and/or vocal soloists, usually at the Embassy Centre.

Spectrum Series - devoted to works for chamber orchestra, sometimes with soloists drawn from orchestra principals, usually held at the Arts United Center, featuring narration by the conductor.

Pops Concerts - devoted to light works, often featuring guest soloists and/or conductors, usually held at the Embassy Centre.

"Unplugged" Concerts - very informal, "bargain" concerts with the musicians informally dressed, usually held at the Arts United Center, with narration by the conductor.

Freimann Series - chamber music concerts featuring principal players of the Philharmonic, held in various venues.

[edit] Broadcasts and Recordings

The Masterworks/Grand and Spectrum concerts are usually taped for broadcast on Fort Wayne's WBNI.

Edvard Tchivzhel and the Philharmonic recorded a commercial CD at the Honeywell Center in Wabash, which includes Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 and Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Don Juan.

[edit] Tchivzhel To Leave

On January 17, 2007, the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported that Edvard Tchivzhel, music director of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, will step down when his contract expires in June 2008.

Tchivzhel, born in Leningrad, Russia (now St. Petersburg), in 1944, came to Fort Wayne in August 1993 after serving as assistant director of the Leningrad Philharmonic (now called the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra) under Yevgeny Mravinsky.

Tchivzhel is also artistic director of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina. The Fort Wayne Philharmionic's 2007-08 season, Tchivzhel’s last, will be assembled to reflect and celebrate the maestro’s contributions to the orchestra. The Philharmonic said a search committee would be formed.

For more information see the online article: [1]