The New Haven Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in New Haven, Connecticut. The New Haven Symphony Orchestra gave its first concert on January 25, 1894 and is the fourth oldest orchestra in the United States.[1] Today, the orchestra is made up of over 65 professionals, many of whom live and work in the Greater New Haven area. The NHSO is currently directed by Music Director Alasdair Neale.
The vision of the NHSO is to inspire, delight, challenge, and connect diverse audiences and communities through the power of live music.
The NHSO was founded in 1894 by Morris Steinert (a music merchant) and Horatio William Parker (the head of Yale University's Department of Music). Many of the earliest American symphony orchestras were based in large cities like BostonorNew York City, yet Steinert and Parker were able to form a viable orchestra made up of local musicians in a relatively smaller city. The original members of the NHSO were mainly German-Americans seeking to continue the orchestral traditions of their native country in the United States, where classical music was less appreciated at the time.
The first performance of the NHSO took place January 25, 1895 at a now-defunct theater on Chapel Street in New Haven near the present-day Union League Café. The program included works by Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schubert, as well as two solos performed by Isidore Troostwyk, a Dutch-born violinist who had recently arrived as a Professor of Music at Yale. Troostwyk served as concertmaster of the new orchestra.
In its early years, the NHSO was closely tied to Yale University, drawing its conductors from the School of Music faculty and serving on occasion as a laboratory for Yale composers and performers. The University also offered financial and organizational support. Before the construction of Woolsey Hall in 1901, the orchestra performed in various local venues including the Hyperion Theater, Alumni Hall (later replaced by Wright Hall, on Elm St) and College Street Hall (on the site of the present Palace Theater)
In 1901, the newly built Woolsey Hall became the chief performance venue of the NHSO. The inaugural concert at Woolsey featured an organ concerto, which made use of the hall’s iconic organ.
The Pops concert series began in 1945, with the first performance indoors at the New Haven Arena, on Grove Street, home of the New Haven Eagles ice hockey team. Later that summer, four more concerts were played in the Yale Bowl, for which a band shell was eventually constructed. The outdoor concerts were a great financial success, drawing nearly 40,000 people the first summer.
Throughout the years, the NHSO has continued these traditions of performance and education—supporting programs in the schools and community, and presenting both classical repertoire and pops concerts. The orchestra has performed regularly in New Haven and has also toured throughout Connecticut and beyond (including performances at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall); it has given numerous radio broadcasts and made the world-premiere recording of the complete five-movement version of Mahler's first symphony.
Now exceeding 125 years of continuous operation, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra continues to fulfill its mission of enriching Connecticut’s cultural landscape through exceptional performances and education programs that are accessible to residents from all walks of life. Innovative programming offered statewide inspires deeper audience engagement and meaningful artistic and educational collaborations which increase the reach and impact of the Symphony. Authentic commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access move the NHSO to provide representation that reflects the richly diverse communities it serves in all areas of Symphony leadership.
The NHSO plays concerts across the city of New Haven primarily from September - June. Their Main Stage series concerts take place in Woolsey Hall at Yale University and the Lyman Center for the Performing Arts at Southern Connecticut State University.
Additionally, the orchestra plays at houses of worship, schools, businesses, parks, festivals, and social service organizations across the city all year round.
The NHSO offers regional performances regularly in its satellite venues in Shelton, CT, including its immensely popular Pops Series led by Principal Pops Conductor Chelsea Tipton.
The NHSO has enjoyed a long history of fruitful collaborations with visiting artists and soloists. Some of the most memorable names include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Joshua Bell, Van Cliburn, Renée Fleming, James Galway, Glenn Gould, Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman, Itzhak Perlman, Mstislav Rostropovich, Artur Rubinstein, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, and Pinchas Zukerman.
The NHSO Pops Series has also brought some legends to New Haven. Such notables as Dave Brubeck, Arthur Fiedler, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Wynton Marsalis, Buddy Rich, Ray Charles, Artie Shaw, and Sarah Vaughan have delighted audiences onstage with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.
The NHSO expanded its Harmony Fellowship for Underrepresented Musicians, funded by the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation through the League of American Orchestras to include Conducting, Administrative, and Board Fellows bringing increased diversity to all areas of the Symphony.
The Instrumental Fellowship accepts a cohort of two musicians from underrepresented backgrounds every year for a two-year fellowship. Fellows receive lessons, participate in professional development such as mock auditions, and have the opportunity to play concerts with the orchestra. At the end of the two-year fellowship, each fellow will be invited to any future opportunity to audition for the NHSO.
Each cohort, along with two NHSO orchestra members, forms one of two Harmony Quartets. The Harmony Quartets are integral to NHSO education programs that focus on resilience and conflict resolution. For upper elementary school students, a Harmony Quartet presents a conflict resolution workshop. High school students participate in a Song Writing project which culminates in the students receiving a professional recording of their compositions, played by the Harmony Quartets.
Conducting Fellows receive mentorship from Music Director Alasdair Neale and Principal Pops Conductor Chelsea Tipton while Administrative and Board Fellows are paired with staff and board members to work on projects and committees that align with their professional goals.
Young People’s Concerts have brought full orchestra performances to public school children for over 89 years. These performances are produced in partnership with public schools across the state. The NHSO welcomes thousands of young listeners to concerts designed expressly for elementary and middle school students, supported by an extensive curriculum guide that supports state and national teaching standards. Many of the schools host pre-concert visits to their classrooms by NHSO teaching artists. A significant number of students hear live classical music for the first time through this program.
Beginning in 2022, the NHSO offered free, public performances of this program, as well as in-school field trip-style performances.
The “Creating Musical Readers” initiative, geared towards Pre-K to 2nd grade students, highlights instruments from each of the four families of the orchestra in the context of literacy activities, and is performed at schools, community centers, libraries, and the Connecticut Children’s Museum. Each event features a NHSO musician accompanying a storybook about their instrument.
NHSO’s “Young Composer Project” allows high school students to study advanced music theory and composition with award-winning professional composers such as Joel Thompson, Christopher Theofandis, Michael Brown, and Augusta Read Thomas. Two years of seminars and lessons lead to premiere performances of student chamber works by NHSO musicians.
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