Nashville Symphony
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Nashville Symphony | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Genre(s) | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Symphony orchestra |
| Years active | 1945-present |
| Website | www.NashvilleSymphony.com |
| Members | |
| Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin Resident Conductor Albert-George Shram Associate Conductor Kelly Corcoran Chorus Director George Mabry |
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| Former members | |
| Founder Walter Sharp |
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The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee.
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[edit] History
The Nashville Symphony was founded in 1920 from a group of amateur and professional musicians who formed their own orchestra and organized The Symphony Society. They had elected Nashville Banner music critic and Vanderbilt University professor George Pullen Jackson their president and manager. Despite steady growth over the next decade, the organization fell victim to The Depression.
In 1945, World War II veteran and Nashville native Walter Sharp returned home intent to establish a new symphony for Middle Tennessee.[1] With the assistance of a small number of fellow music lovers, he convinced community leaders of this need and the Nashville Symphony was founded.
Sharp retained William Strickland, a young conductor from New York, to serve as its first music director and conductor. Strickland was responsible for setting the high performance standards that the orchestra and its conductors have maintained to this day. Guy Taylor (1951-1959), Willis Page (1959-1967), Thor Johnson (1967-1975) and Michael Charry (1976-1982) were successive music directors. During the tenure of Charry, the symphony moved its subscription series from War Memorial Auditorium to Jackson Hall in the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
For 22 years, Music Director and Principal Conductor Kenneth Schermerhorn led the Nashville Symphony, until his death in April 2005. The orchestra's profile increased during his tenure, through recordings, television broadcasts, and tours.[2] Following Schermerhorn's death, in August 2006, Leonard Slatkin was named the orchestra's artistic advisor, for a contract of three years, through 2009.[3]
In September 2006, the Symphony opened Schermerhorn Symphony Center, a US$123 million project, which includes Laura Turner Concert Hall.[4] Slatkin conducted the orchestra's first concert in the new hall on September 9, 2006, which included works by Shostakovich, Barber, Mahler, and a world premiere Triple Concerto by Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer.
In September 2007, the orchestra announced the Costa Rican conductor Giancarlo Guerrero would be appointed the next music director of the Nashville Symphony. His initial contract will five years, and is scheduled to commence with the 2009-2010 season.[5]
[edit] Music Directors
- 1946-1951: William Strickland
- 1951-1959: Guy Taylor
- 1959-1967: Willis Page
- 1967-1975: Thor Johnson
- 1976-1982: Michael Charry
- 1983-2005: Kenneth Schermerhorn
- 2006-present: Leonard Slatkin (music advisor)
[edit] Recordings
- Beach: "Gaelic" Symphony; Piano Concerto (2003)
- Beethoven: Missa Solemnis, Op. 123 (2004)
- Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 (1996)
- Bernstein: Dybbuk / Fancy Free (complete ballets) (2006)
- Bernstein: West Side Story: The Original Score (2002)
- Carter: Symphony No. 1; Piano Concerto (2004)
- Chadwick: Orchestral Works Thalia / Melpomene / Euterpe (2002)
- Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (Original 1935 Production Version) (2006)
- Gould: Fall River Legend; Jekyll and Hyde Variations (2005)
- Hanson: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (2000)
- Ives: Symphony No. 2; Robert Browning Overture (2000)
- Tower: Made in America / Tambor / Concerto for Orchestra (2007)
- Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras (Complete) (2005)
[edit] References
- ^ Young, Stephen E.. Nashville. Grove Music Online ed. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2008-02-06.
- ^ Ben Mattison. "Kenneth Schermerhorn, Longtime Nashville Symphony Conductor, Dies at 75", Playbill Arts, 19 April 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ Vivien Schweitzer. "Leonard Slatkin Joins Nashville Symphony as Artistic Advisor While Music Director Search Continues", Playbill Arts, 24 August 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ Matthew Westphal. "Photo Journal: Nashville, 'the Athens of the South,' Gets a New Temple to Music", Playbill Arts, 10 September 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
- ^ Kevin Shihoten. "Nashville Symphony Appoints Music Director", Playbill Arts, 7 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.
[edit] External links
- Nashville Symphony Official website
