The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (NMSO) was a

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. It operated from 1932 until 2011, when it declared bankruptcy.

History

The orchestra, originally called the Albuquerque Civic Symphony, was organized by local members of the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

and first performed on November 30, 1932, at

Carlisle Gymnasium Carlisle Gymnasium is an indoor arena on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was the home of the New Mexico Lobos basketball team from its opening in 1928 until the completion of the larger Johnson Gymnasium ...

. The founding conductor was Grace Thompson Edmister, who was one of the first women to lead a classical orchestra in the United States. Edminster was succeeded in 1941 by William Kunkel, who was in turn replaced in 1945 by Kurt Frederick. Frederick managed to convince the world-renowned Austrian-American composer

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

to commission the premiere of his work „

A Survivor from Warsaw ''A Survivor from Warsaw'', Op. 46, is a cantata by the Los Angeles-based Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, written in tribute to Holocaust victims. The main narration is unsung; "never should there be a pitch" to its solo vocal line, wrote t ...

“ to the ACS. The work was written in remembrance of the

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's ...

in Poland during World War II, and is one of the most important classical works to commemorate the

Shoah The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...

, the

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

of more than six million European

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Frederick, who continued teaching at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

and later founded the Albuquerque Youth Symphony, was replaced in 1950 by

Hans Lange Hans Lange (February 17, 1884 in Istanbul – August 13, 1960 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) was a German-American conductor and musician. He was a son of Paul Lange, who had been a lecturer for music at the American College for Girls and Ger ...

. The German-American conductor Lange was born in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, Turkey, where his father Paul Lange had been director of the Sultan's music. Hans Lange himself had been assistant of

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

and conductor of

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

, before assuming the position at the ACS. Under the direction of Lange the ACS was transformed from a "college" amateur ensemble into what was known as one of the premier professional orchestras in the United States. From 2000, Guillermo Figueroa was the director of NMSO. The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (NMSO) entered

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

on April 20, 2011, announcing that it would cease operations and existence. Orchestra members were notified of the board's decision to file for bankruptcy by email, a few hours after the vote was taken. But, according to KRQE, many of the orchestra's 78 members heard about the bankruptcy filing from media reports. The New Mexico Philharmonic was announced as a new organization on May 11, 2011 and later kicked off the 2011-2012 Inaugural Season with the Opening Concert on December 10, 2011.

Music directors

*Grace Thompson Edmister (1932–1941) *William Kunkel (1941–1945) *Kurt Frederick (1945–1950) *

(1950–1958) *Maurice Bonney (1958–1968) *Yoshimi Takeda (1970–1984) *Neal Stulberg (1985–1993) *

David Lockington David Lockington (born October 11, 1956), is the Music Director Laureate of the Grand Rapids Symphony located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, U.S. Lockington became the 13th music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony in January 1999 and s ...

(1995-2000) *Guillermo Figueroa (2000–2011)

References

External links

New Mexico Symphony Orchestra websiteHistory of New Mexico Symphony OrchestraInternet Archive
cached page) {{authority control Disbanded American orchestras Culture of Albuquerque, New Mexico 1932 establishments in New Mexico 2011 disestablishments in New Mexico Musical groups established in 1932 Musical groups disestablished in 2011