Akron Symphony Orchestra
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Akron Symphony Orchestra
The Akron Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra based in Akron, Ohio. The ASO was founded in 1949. In 2006, the ASO appointed Christopher Wilkins music director. Wilkins has agreed to serve as director through 2021. The Akron Symphony Orchestra is operated by the Greater Akron Musical Association (GAMA). History The founding of the orchestra dates to 1949, when John Barry, "business manager of the Akron Beacon Journal, present dMabel Graham with $500 to start a symphony orchestra." The first performance of the Akron Symphony Orchestra was on Feb. 24, 1953, in a concert "led by John Francis Farinacci, a high school teacher and band director," at Central-Hower High School. On October 9, 1973, " E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall opens with a world premiere by Mexican composer Carlos Chavez" and performed by the Akron Symphony. Conductors Past conductors have included Laszlo Krausz (starting in 1954), Louis Lane (starting in 1959), Margaret Hillis (starting 1971; first wom ...
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Akron, Ohio
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city proper had a total population of 190,469, making it the 125th largest city in the United States. The Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area, Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage County, Ohio, Portage counties, had an estimated population of 703,505. The city was founded in 1825 by Simon Perkins and Paul Williams, along the Cuyahoga River, Little Cuyahoga River at the summit of the developing Ohio and Erie Canal. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''ἄκρον : ákron'' signifying a summit or high point. It was briefly renamed South Akron after Eliakim Crosby founded nearby North Akron in 1833, until both merged into an incorporated village in 1836. In the 1910s, Akron doubled in population, makin ...
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Christopher Wilkins
Christopher Wilkins (born 1957) is an American music director, conductor, oboist, and a 1992 Seaver/NEA Award recipient. Biography Wilkins was born in Boston, Massachusetts where by 1978 he obtained bachelor's degree from Harvard College He studied with German-born conductor Otto-Werner Mueller while being enrolled into Yale University and got his Master of Music degree from there by 1981. Two years before it he traveled to West Berlin where he attended Berlin University of the Arts and the same year was awarded John Knowles Paine fellowship from Harvard University. In his hometown he had performances with orchestras like Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood estate and Boston Philharmonic Orchestra which was guided by Benjamin Zander. Later on he assisted Joseph Silverstein at Utah Symphony where he served as an associate conductor, and then, under guidance from Christoph von Dohnányi was an assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. Under guidance from James DePreist he be ...
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EJ Thomas Hall
E. J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, more commonly known as E. J. Thomas Hall, is a performing arts hall located in downtown Akron, Ohio on the University of Akron campus. History Opened in 1973, The University of Akron's E. J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall is a hall, that can seat up to 2,955 people, depending on the arrangement of the facility. It seats 2,955 with the ceiling at full height, 2,343 with it at the front edge of the flying balcony, and 743 when the grand tier is entirely closed off. On October 9, 1973, the hall opened "with a world premiere by Mexican composer Carlos Chavez," performed by the Akron Symphony Orchestra. The first director of The University of Akron's E. J. Thomas Hall was Clint Norton, followed by Robert D'Angelo, co-producer of Mummenschanz on Broadway in 1979 and Dan Dahl in 1991. The University of Akron named the facility in honor of Edwin J. Thomas, the former Chairman and CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a ...
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Akron Beacon Journal
The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon Journal has won four Pulitzer Prizes: in 1968, 1971, 1987 and 1994. History The paper was founded with the 1897 merger of the ''Summit Beacon,'' first published in 1839, and the ''Akron Evening Journal,'' founded in 1896. In 1903, the ''Beacon Journal'' was purchased by Charles Landon Knight. His son John S. Knight inherited the paper, in 1933, on Charles' death. The ''Beacon Journal'' under Knight was the original and flagship newspaper of Knight Newspaper Company, later called Knight Ridder. The McClatchy Company bought Knight Ridder in June 2006 with intentions of selling 12 Knight Ridder newspapers. On August 2, 2006, McClatchy sold the ''Beacon Journal'' to Black Press. In 2018, GateHouse Media bought the newspaper. On November ...
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Central-Hower High School
The National Inventor's Hall of Fame STEM High School is a public high school in the Akron Public School District that serves the city of Akron, Ohio since its creation in 2012. Their school colors are turquoise and chrome. Its predecessor was Central-Hower High School which served the city of Akron from 1970 until its closure at the end of the 2005-06 school year. History The National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM High School was created in 2012 as a special high school with emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Its predecessor, Central-Hower High School was created in 1970 when Akron Public Schools combined Central High School with Hower Vocational School into a new building on the site of the Central location. The original Central building on Forge Street opened in 1886 and was initially named Akron High School. It was renamed Central High School in 1911 when the Akron Board of Education opened South High School. Hower Vocational School was named a ...
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Carlos Chavez
Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere * Carlos (crater), Montes Apenninus, LQ12, Moon; a lunar crater near Mons Hadley People * Carlos (given name), including a list of name holders * Carlos (surname), including a list of name holders Sportspeople * Carlos (Timorese footballer) (born 1986) * Carlos (footballer, born 1995), Brazilian footballer * Carlos (footballer, born 1985), Brazilian footballer Others * Carlos (Calusa) (died 1567), king or paramount chief of the Calusa people of Southwest Florida * Carlos (DJ) (born 1966), British DJ * Carlos (singer) (1943—2008), French entertainer * Carlos the Jackal, a Venezuelan terrorist *Carlos (DJ) (born 2010) Guyanese DJ Arts and entertainment * ''Carlos'' (miniseries), 2010 biopic about the terrorist Carlos the Jackal * ' ...
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Louis Lane
Louis Gardner Lane (December 25, 1923 – February 15, 2016) was an American conductor. He was born in Eagle Pass, Texas. He studied composition with Kent Kennan at the University of Texas at Austin where he earned his bachelor's in music degree in 1943, and with Bohuslav Martinů at the Tanglewood Music Center (summer 1946), and with Bernard Rogers at the Eastman School of Music (master's degree in music, 1947). He also studied opera with Sarah Caldwell (1950). He was apprentice conductor to George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra in 1947. He became assistant conductor there 1955-1960 and associate conductor 1960-1970 and resident conductor 1970-1973. A comment made by George Szell to Lane in 1957 about the eccentric pianist Glenn Gould became quite famous: “That nut’s a genius”. Gould requested Lane to accompany his subsequent performances in Cleveland, and Lane's Canadian conducting debut was made in 1960 at the Vancouver Festival with Gould. Lane's programming with t ...
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Margaret Hillis
Margaret Eleanor Hillis (October 1, 1921, Kokomo, Indiana – February 5, 1998, Evanston, Illinois) was an American conductor. She was the founder and first director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus. Life Hillis was born in Kokomo, Indiana, in 1921."Hillis, Margaret (1921–)." '' Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages'', edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 1, Yorkin Publications, 2007, p. 878. ''Gale eBooks''. Accessed 22 Aug. 2021. She began to study the piano at the age of five and continued with several other instruments, including woodwinds, brass, and double bass. She made her conducting debut, while still a student, as assistant conductor of her high school orchestra. After suspending her studies for two years during World War II to become a civilian flight instructor in Muncie, Indiana, Hillis received a bachelor of music degree in composition from Indiana University in 1947 and later studied conducting privately with Julius Herford and ...
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Keith Lockhart
Keith Alan Lockhart (born November 7, 1959) is an American conductor. He is the Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina. Early life Born on November 7, 1959, in Poughkeepsie, New York, Lockhart is the elder of two children, (the younger being Paul D. Lockhart) born to Newton Frederick and Marilyn Jean (Woodyard) Lockhart, who worked as computer professionals. He grew up in nearby Wappingers Falls and was educated in the public schools of New York's Dutchess County. He began studying piano at age seven. Lockhart graduated in 1981 from Furman University with a double major in German and piano performance. He then went on to get a master's degree in orchestral conducting from Carnegie Mellon University. Lockhart was initiated into Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity in 1978 by the Gamma Eta chapter at Furman University. Musical career Lockhart's conducting ...
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Boston Pops Orchestra
The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), the Boston Pops primarily consists of musicians from the BSO, although generally not all of the first-chair players. The orchestra performs a spring season of popular music and a holiday program in December. For the Pops, the seating on the floor of Symphony Hall is reconfigured from auditorium seating to banquet and cafe seating. The Pops also plays an annual concert at the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade every Fourth of July. Their performances of both Tchaikovsky's " 1812 Overture" and Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" are famous for both Howitzer cannons firing and fireworks exploding (during the 1812 Overture) as well as the unfurling of the American flag that occurs as the song enters "The Stars ...
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Benjamin Zander
Benjamin Zander (born 9 March 1939 in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England) is an English conductor, who is currently the musical director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Biography Benjamin Zander was born in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England. His parents, Walter and Margarete (Gretl) Zander, had emigrated from Berlin in 1937 to escape the Nazis, and raised their four children: Michael, Luke, Angelica, and Benjamin. At home, his father would regularly sing and play piano after work. Benjamin Zander started to compose music at the age of nine. Several of his compositions came to the attention of composer Benjamin Britten, who invited the Zander family to spend three summers in Aldeburgh, England, the beautiful seaside town in Suffolk where he lived. Benjamin Zander took lessons with Benjamin Britten and became a student of theory of Britten's amanuensis and assistant, Imogen Holst. Early life Zander's main instrume ...
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Severance Hall
Severance Hall is a concert hall located in the University Circle section of Cleveland, Ohio.  Opened in 1931, Severance Hall was named after patrons John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth Huntingdon DeWitt Severance, and serves as the home of The Cleveland Orchestra.  It is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of Cleveland’s Wade Park District. History The Cleveland Orchestra first performed at Grays Armory in downtown Cleveland and later moved to the Masonic Auditorium for concerts during the 1920s. But both buildings also hosted other types of events that occasionally created scheduling conflicts for the Orchestra, including, most famously, twice when the ensemble had to find a location other than Grays Armory because of a poultry exhibition. The Orchestra’s administration soon came to realize the advantages that having a permanent concert hall would bring to the ensemble's performances, rehearsals, and radio broadcasts. After encour ...
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