| Seattle Symphony | |
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Seattle Symphony on stage in Benaroya Hall in May 2009. |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupations | Symphony orchestra |
| Years active | 1903–1921, 1926–present |
| Website | www.seattlesymphony.org |
| Members | |
| Music Director Ludovic Morlot Associate Conductor Eric Garcia Associate Conductor for Choral Activities Joseph Crnko |
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| Past members | |
| Founder Harry West |
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The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra's season runs from September through July, and serves as the pit orchestra for most productions of the Seattle Opera in addition to its own concerts including the opera's annual Richard Wagner presentations in the summer.
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The orchestra gave its first performance on December 29, 1903, with Harry West conducting. Known from its founding as the Seattle Symphony, it was renamed in 1911 as the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1919, the orchestra was reorganized with new bylaws under the name Seattle Symphony Orchestra. The 1921–22 season was cancelled due to financial problems.[1]
Preceding the cancellation of the 1921-22 season, another orchestra, the Seattle Civic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mary Davenport Engberg, commenced operations and held performances during a portion of the following five-year hiatus. The Engberg family's affiliation with the Seattle Symphony has been subject to many subsequent embellishments, some of which have come from the Seattle Symphony organization itself (including literature celebrating the Symphony's 2003 centennial), that Mary Davenport Engberg was the Seattle Symphony's first female conductor, the first and only female conductor in the nation, that the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Civic Symphony merged in 1921, and that her son, Paul, played cello in the Seattle Symphony.[2][3][4][5]
In fact, the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Civic Symphony did not merge in 1921, since the personnel lists of the last Seattle Symphony concert of the 1920-21 season and the first season of the Seattle Civic Symphony have no more than one name in common.[6][7] Other orchestras elsewhere in the country had been previously led by female conductors,[8] and Paul Engberg's name does not appear on any Seattle Symphony program personnel lists.[9] The claim that Mary Davenport Engberg had previously appeared as "a featured soloist for several years with the Seattle Symphony" [10]contrasts with her being listed as a soloist only twice in a three-week period in news articles and surviving Seattle Symphony programs: a Sunday afternoon pops concert in the Moore Theatre on December 13, 1908 and a benefit concert on January 3, 1909 for victims of an earthquake in Italy.[11][12] "Throughout the orchestra's 2003 centennial celebrations Engberg was touted as an example of the orchestra association's progressiveness in having had a female conductor, although research reveals that she never actually worked for the organization. This modern narrative is revisionist history at best..."[13]
Mary Davenport Engberg was never the director of the Seattle Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony was not revived until 1926 under the direction of Karl Krueger.[14][15]
In 1947, the Seattle Symphony merged with the Tacoma Philharmonic to form the Pacific Northwest Symphony Orchestra. Performances were held in Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia, with conducting duties split between Carl Bricken and Eugene Linden.[16] This arrangement ceased after one season, when the Seattle Symphony decided to withdraw from it.[17] A feud between the musicians and the board surfaced in 1948, and a majority of the musicians divorced themselves from the board and created a new orchestra called the Seattle Orchestra, a partnership (collective) operated by the musicians themselves, who chose Linden as their conductor.[17] The Seattle Symphony announced a separate orchestra season with eighteen concerts at the old Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus. The symphony was to be directed by Stanley Chapple, and a series of guest conductors: Artur Rodzinski, Jacques Singer, and Erich Leinsdorf.[18] Personnel for the Seattle Symphony were announced in the press on October 24, 1948, and included a few musicians who had chosen not to defect to the Seattle Orchestra and some new faces as well.[19] The Seattle Symphony season was then postponed and eventually cancelled. The Seattle Orchestra, meanwhile, gave its first performance on November 23, 1948.[20] An accommodation was reached between the Seattle Symphony and the Seattle Orchestra, and the two organizations merged, and the name "Seattle Symphony Orchestra" was retained. The partnership system was also retained, and musicians gained access onto the board.[21] The partnership system was eventually dissolved at the request of Milton Katims in 1955.[22] Even so, for most of its 100-year history, and especially today, the ensemble is known by the two-word name "Seattle Symphony".
Gerard Schwarz, became music advisor of the orchestra in 1983 and principal conductor in 1984, before being named music director in 1985.[23] Under Schwarz's leadership, the orchestra has become particularly known for performing works of twentieth century composers, especially of neglected American composers. Together, Schwarz and the orchestra have made over 100 commercial recordings, including the major orchestral works of Howard Hanson and David Diamond, for labels including Delos International and Naxos Records. The orchestra received its first Grammy nomination in January 1990 for a 1989 recording of music of Howard Hanson.[24] The orchestra also recorded a musical score to the SeaWorld, Orlando stage show A'lure, The Call of the Ocean.
Schwarz received praise for his championing of American composers and his skills in fund-raising.[23] However, his tenure was also marked by controversies between him and several symphony musicians, which included several legal disputes.[25] In September 2008, the orchestra announced the conclusion of Schwarz's music directorship after the 2010–2011 season, at which time Schwarz is scheduled to become the orchestra's conductor laureate.[23][26]
In June 2010, the Seattle Symphony announced the appointment of Ludovic Morlot as its 15th music director, effective with the 2011–2012 season, with an initial contract of six years.[27]
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