Newton Symphony Orchestra
The Newton Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1967, is a 70-member mostly non-professional regional orchestra based in Newton, Massachusetts.[1] The Newton Symphony Orchestra performs in a variety of locations, including the notable Carnegie Hall.
The current music director of the orchestra is James M. Orent.
The NSO has championed new music, including commissions and world premieres of works by noted American composers, such as Gunther Schuller, Charles Fussell, and Ethan Wickman. Fussell's Wilde was one of three compositions awarded the 1991 Pulitzer Prize in Music. The NSO commissioned and performed Sinfonia da Requiem: For the Victims of the Holocaust, by Uruguayan composer León Biriotti, which was designated by The Improper Bostonian as the third best Classical Music Performance of that year in Boston. In October 2008, the NSO gave the East Coast premiere of Ethan Wickman's Solitary Deserts of Infinite Space.
The Newton Symphony Orchestra has attracted an esteemed collection of international and local soloists, including Spanish guitarist Sir Angel Romero, Hungarian violinist Denes Zsigmondy, marimba player Nanae Mimura, and 15-year-old cellist Sebastian Baverstam. NSO opera performances attract well known artists in the field, including Adina Aaron and Benjamin Warschawski from the New York City Opera, and Barbara Kilduff and Leah Wool of the Metropolitan Opera. Recent instrumental soloists have included violinist Bin Huang and pianist Michael Lewin, a Newton resident who is the Chairman of the Boston Conservatory Piano Faculty.