Spokane Symphony

The Spokane Symphony is a 70-piece professional orchestra based in Spokane, WA that performs more than 60 concerts per year for more than 150,000 listeners. It was originally incorporated in 1945 as the Spokane Philharmonic before being renamed the Spokane Symphony in 1962.

The first concert was held on December 18, 1945 at the Masonic Temple at 8:30 pm, and was conducted by Harold Paul Whelan.

The regular season includes a ten-concert Classics series (Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons), seven SuperPops performances (including two Holiday Pops performances in December), three "Symphony with a Splash" concerts featuring a pre-concert happy hour with a live band and a fully staged Nutcracker Ballet each holiday season.

The vast majority of its concerts are performed in the newly renovated Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. A Chamber Soiree Series began in 2000 and is currently held in the Spokane Club's Georgian Room.

Each summer, the Symphony is featured at the Festival at Sandpoint, ID in addition to performing a series of Soiree on the Edge concerts, currently held on the grounds of Arbor Crest Winery. Classics concerts are broadcast on 91.1 KPBX-FM (Spokane Public Radio).

The Symphony's educational outreach programs provide musical experiences for more than 30,000 students. The season begins each year with two free parks concerts (Liberty Lake's Pavilion Park and Spokane's Comstock Park) with 15,000 attending.

The Symphony's current conductors are Eckart Preu (music director), Morihiko Nakahara (resident conductor), and Jorge Luis Uzcategui (assistant conductor).

Music Directors

The musical directors of the Spokane Symphony have been:

  1. Harold Paul Whelan (1945-1961)
  2. Donald Thulean (1962-1984, Conductor Emeritus)
  3. Gunther Schuller (1984-1985)
  4. Bruce Ferden (1985-1991)
  5. Vakhtang Jordania (1991-1993)
  6. Fabio Mechetti (1993-2004, Conductor Laureate)
  7. Eckart Preu (2004–Present)

Internet2 Connectivity

The Spokane Symphony in conjunction with the Welty Family Learning Center at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox offers Master Classes with Guest Artists which are free and open to the public. The Fox is equipped with an Internet2 capacity of 1 gigabyte per second speed through Pacific Northwest Gigapop, allowing the unique opportunity for selected classes to be conducted interactively over the Internet2 with educational institutions in other locations, and local audiences and participants viewing from the beautiful venue at the theater.

The University of Washington has sponsored membership into the Internet2 community.

External links

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