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The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American
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, c ...
based in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by
Henry Lee Higginson Henry Lee Higginson (November 18, 1834 – November 14, 1919) was an American businessman best known as the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a patron of Harvard University. Biography Higginson was born in New York City on November 18 ...
in 1881, the BSO performs most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at
Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...
. Since its founding, the orchestra has had 17 music directors, including
George Henschel Sir Isidor George Henschel (18 February 185010 September 1934) was a German-born British baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer. His first wife Lillian was also a singer. He was the first conductor of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra ...
,
Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...
,
Henri Rabaud Henri Benjamin Rabaud (10 November 187311 September 1949) was a French conductor, composer and pedagogue, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of t ...
,
Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in ...
, Charles Munch,
Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a ...
,
William Steinberg William Steinberg (Cologne, August 1, 1899New York City, May 16, 1978) was a German-American conductor. Biography Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany. He displayed early talent as a violinist, pianist, and composer, ...
and
James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...
.
Andris Nelsons Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor who is currently the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has previously served as music dire ...
is the current music director of the BSO.
Seiji Ozawa Seiji (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese ski jumper *, Japanese racing driver *, Japanese politician *, Japanese film directo ...
has the title of BSO music director laureate.
Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...
had held the title of principal guest conductor of the BSO from 1995 to 2004, then conductor emeritus until his death in 2021. The orchestra has made gramophone recordings since 1917 and has occasionally played on soundtrack recordings for films, including ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...
''.


History


Early years

The BSO was founded in 1881 by
Henry Lee Higginson Henry Lee Higginson (November 18, 1834 – November 14, 1919) was an American businessman best known as the founder of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a patron of Harvard University. Biography Higginson was born in New York City on November 18 ...
. Its first conductor was
George Henschel Sir Isidor George Henschel (18 February 185010 September 1934) was a German-born British baritone, pianist, conductor, and composer. His first wife Lillian was also a singer. He was the first conductor of both the Boston Symphony Orchestra ...
, who was a noted baritone as well as conductor, and a close friend of
Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
. For the orchestra, Henschel devised innovative orchestral seating charts and sent them to Brahms, who replied approvingly and commented on the issues raised by horn and viola sections in a letter of mid-November 1881. The BSO's first concert took place on October 22, 1881. The program consisted of Beethoven's ''
The Consecration of the House ''The Consecration of the House'' (german: Die Weihe des Hauses), Op. 124, is a work by Ludwig van Beethoven composed in September 1822. It was commissioned by Carl Friedrich Hensler, the Director of Vienna's new Theater in der Josefstadt, and ...
'', as well as music by
Franz Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
,
Christoph Willibald Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...
,
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
and
Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his opera ...
. The orchestra's four subsequent music directors were all trained in Austria, including the seminal and highly influential Hungarian-born conductor
Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Br ...
, in accordance with the tastes of Higginson.
Wilhelm Gericke Wilhelm Gericke (April 18, 1845 – October 27, 1925) was an Austrian-born conductor and composer who worked in Vienna and Boston. He was born in Schwanberg, Austria. Initially he trained in Graz to be a schoolmaster. This didn't work out, thou ...
served twice, from 1884 to 1889 and again from 1898 to 1906. According to Joseph Horowitz's review of correspondence, Higginson considered 25 candidates to replace Gericke after receiving notice in 1905. He decided not to offer the position to
Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
,
Fritz Steinbach Fritz Steinbach (17 June 1855 – 13 August 1916) was a German conductor and composer who was particularly associated with the works of Johannes Brahms. Born in Grünsfeld, he was the brother of conductor Emil Steinbach. He studied at the Leipz ...
, and
Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest s ...
but did not rule out the young
Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the Un ...
if nobody more senior were to accept. He offered the position to Hans Richter in February 1905, who declined, to
Felix Mottl right Felix Josef von Mottl (between 29 July/29 August 1856 – 2 July 1911) was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which ''Agnes Bernauer'' (Weima ...
in November, who was previously engaged, and then to previous director Nikisch, who declined; the post was finally offered to
Karl Muck Karl Muck (October 22, 1859 – March 3, 1940) was a German-born conductor of Classical music. He based his activities principally in Europe and mostly in opera. His American career comprised two stints at the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). M ...
, who accepted and began his duties in October 1906. He was conductor until 1908 and again from 1912 to 1918. The music director 1908–12 was
Max Fiedler Max Fiedler (21 December 1859, Zittau – 1 December 1939, Stockholm) was a German conductor and composer, born August Max Fiedler in Zittau, Saxony, Germany. He was especially noted as an interpreter of Brahms. He first studied the piano ...
. He conducted the premiere of
Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;  – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versaill ...
's Symphony in B minor "Polonia" in 1909. During World War I, Muck (born in Germany but a Swiss citizen since childhood), was arrested, shortly before a performance of the St. Matthew Passion in 1918, and interned in a prison camp without trial or charge until the end of the war, when he was deported. He vowed never to return, and conducted thereafter only in Europe. The BSO's next two titled conductors were French:
Henri Rabaud Henri Benjamin Rabaud (10 November 187311 September 1949) was a French conductor, composer and pedagogue, who held important posts in the French musical establishment and upheld mainly conservative trends in French music in the first half of t ...
, who took over from Muck for a season, and then
Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in ...
from 1919 to 1924. Monteux, because of a musician's strike, was able to replace 30 players, thus changing the orchestra's sound; the orchestra developed a reputation for a "French" sound which persists to some degree to this day.


Koussevitzky and Munch

The orchestra's reputation increased during the 1924–1949 music directorship of
Serge Koussevitzky Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling "Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevit ...
. One million radio listeners tuned in when Koussevitzky and the orchestra were the first to perform a live concert for radio broadcast, which they did on NBC in 1926. In August 1942, the
American Federation of Musicians The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...
kicked off the two-year long musician's strike, with the goal of musicians receiving more in royalty payments from record companies. Initially, the BSO were the only major performing group in the nation unaffected; the orchestra's musicians hadn't been unionized since the orchestra's founding. By the end of 1942, however, the orchestra joined the AFM, effectively joining the strike, and also kicking off a long series of live radio concerts on CBS with Koussevitzky conducting. Under Koussevitzky, the orchestra gave regular radio broadcasts and established its summer home at
Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the T ...
, where Koussevitzky founded the
Berkshire Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
, which is now the
Tanglewood Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
. Those
network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
radio broadcasts ran from 1926 through 1951, and again from 1954 through 1956. The orchestra continues to make regular live radio broadcasts to the present day. The Boston Symphony has been closely involved with Boston's
WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...
Radio as an outlet for its concerts. Koussevitzky also commissioned many new pieces from prominent
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
s, including the Symphony No. 4 of
Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
,
George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
's ''
Second Rhapsody The Second Rhapsody is a concert piece for orchestra with piano by American composer George Gershwin, written in 1931. It is sometimes referred to by its original title, ''Rhapsody in Rivets''. The Second Rhapsody was seldom performed in the twent ...
'' and the ''
Symphony of Psalms The ''Symphony of Psalms'' is a choral symphony in three movements composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1930 during his neoclassical period. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orch ...
'' by
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
. They also gave the premiere of
Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
's Concerto for Orchestra, which had been commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation at the instigation of
Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose t ...
and
Joseph Szigeti Joseph Szigeti ( hu">Szigeti József, ; 5 September 189219 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist. Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on ...
. Koussevitzky started a tradition of commissions that the orchestra continued, including new works by
Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...
( Symphony No. 11) and
Henri Dutilleux Henri Paul Julien Dutilleux (; 22 January 1916 – 22 May 2013) was a French composer active mainly in the second half of the 20th century. His small body of published work, which garnered international acclaim, followed in the tradition of ...
for its 75th anniversary,
Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...
, and
Andrzej Panufnik Sir Andrzej Panufnik (24 September 1914 – 27 October 1991) was a Polish composer and conductor. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philha ...
, for the 100th, and lately for the 125th works by
Leon Kirchner Leon Kirchner (January 24, 1919 – September 17, 2009) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and he won a Pulitzer Pr ...
,
Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer. One of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century, he combined elements of European modernism and American "ultra- ...
, and
Peter Lieberson Peter Goddard Lieberson (25 October 1946 – 23 April 2011) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. His song cycles include two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music: '' Rilke Songs'' and ''Neruda Songs''; the latter won t ...
. Other BSO commissions have included
John Corigliano John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...
's Symphony No. 2 for the 100th anniversary of Symphony Hall.
Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large oeuvre of works is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Stravinsky, Italian music, Arabic music and jazz, as well as t ...
dedicated his Eighth Symphony to the orchestra. Although Koussevitsky recommended his protégé
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
to be his successor after he retired in 1949, the BSO awarded the position to the Alsatian maestro Charles Munch, who would lead until 1962. Munch had made his Boston conducting debut in 1946. He led orchestra on its first overseas tour, and also produced their first stereo recording in February 1954 for
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
. In 1952, Munch appointed the first woman to hold a principal chair in a major U.S. orchestra, flutist
Doriot Anthony Dwyer Doriot Anthony Dwyer (; March 6, 1922 – March 14, 2020) was an American flutist. She was one of the first women to be awarded principal chair for a major U.S. orchestra (following hornist Helen Kotas, who was appointed principal horn of the C ...
, who remained as BSO principal for 38 years.


Leinsdorf, Steinberg, and Ozawa

Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a ...
became music director in 1962 and held the post until 1969.
William Steinberg William Steinberg (Cologne, August 1, 1899New York City, May 16, 1978) was a German-American conductor. Biography Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany. He displayed early talent as a violinist, pianist, and composer, ...
was then music director from 1969 to 1972. Steinberg was "ill and ailing" according to composer/author
Jan Swafford Jan Swafford (born September 10, 1946) is an American author and composer. He earned his Bachelor of Arts '' magna cum laude'' from Harvard College and his M.M.A. and D.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. His teachers included Earl Kim at Harvard, ...
, and "for four years he was indisposed much of the time." After Steinberg's retirement, according to BSO trustee John Thorndike (who was on the search committee) the symphony's board spoke to
Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...
and "investigated very thoroughly" his appointment, but Davis's commitments to his young family did not allow his moving to Boston from England; instead he accepted the post of BSO principal guest conductor, which he held from 1972 to 1984. As the search continued,
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
met with four board members and recommended
Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of ...
, who had been Assistant Conductor and Associate Conductor under Steinberg, for the directorship, but the young conductor "did not have sufficient support among the BSO players," according to journalist
Jeremy Eichler Jeremy Adam Eichler (born 13 August 1974) is an American music critic, and cultural historian. Since 2006 he has been the chief classical music critic of ''The Boston Globe'', frequently writing in his column the "Third Ear". Having written ...
. The committee eventually chose
Seiji Ozawa Seiji (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese ski jumper *, Japanese racing driver *, Japanese politician *, Japanese film directo ...
, who became Music Director in 1973 and held the post until 2002, the longest tenure of any Boston Symphony conductor. Ozawa's tenure involved significant dissension and controversy. One concern was his handling of the
Tanglewood Music Center The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
.
Greg Sandow Greg Sandow (born June 3, 1943) is an American music critic and composer. Education Sandow is a graduate of Harvard University, with a bachelor's degree in government. He is also a graduate of Yale University, with a master's degree in composi ...
wrote in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' in December 1998 that Ozawa "had taken control of the school with what many people thought was surprising and abrupt brutality. Members of the faculty, themselves world-famous, had angrily resigned." The first departure was in the fall of 1996, when Ozawa fired Richard Ortner, the Festival's administrator. After a tumultuous season, at the end of summer 1997, pianist
Gilbert Kalish Gilbert Kalish (born July 2, 1935) is an American pianist. He was born in New York and studied with Leonard Shure, Julius Hereford and Isabelle Vengerova. He was a founding member of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, a pioneering new music gr ...
resigned from the faculty by sending Ozawa what the pianist/conductor
Leon Fleisher Leon Fleisher (July 23, 1928 – August 2, 2020) was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most re ...
later described as "a blistering letter of resignation, and he made it public"; Fleisher, who was also a long-term member of the Tanglewood faculty, wrote, "Most of the faculty felt he was speaking for them." Ozawa reduced Fleisher's role at the Center, offering him instead a "ceremonial puppet role," and Fleisher resigned, writing to Ozawa that the proposed role was "somewhat akin to having my legs chopped off at the knees, you then gently taking me by the arm and inviting me for a stroll. I must decline the invitation." By contrast, ''Boston Globe'' music critic Richard Dyer wrote that: : "...not every change was for the better...But there can be no question that Tanglewood is a busier, more adventurous, and more exciting place than it was before Ozawa became music director." A more basic concern involved perceived shortcomings in Ozawa's musical leadership; as Sandow wrote in the 1998 article, "what mattered far more was how badly the BSO plays." He noted that a group of Boston Symphony musicians had privately published a newsletter, ''Counterpoint'', expressing their concerns; in the summer of 1995 concertmaster Malcolm Lowe and principal cellist Jules Eskin wrote that in rehearsal Ozawa gave no "specific leadership in matters of tempo and rhythm," no "expression of care about sound quality," and no "distinctly-conveyed conception of the character of each piece the BSO plays." The BSO's managing director, Mark Volpe, responded that some board members considered Sandow's article a "hatchet job," and some unnamed BSO "observers" were said in ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' to believe that Sandow "might be sharpening blades for BSO members with axes to grind". Sandow called the suggestion "nonsense," saying, "I found them layers criticizing Ozawa in his article they didn't find me".
André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...
wrote to ''The Wall Street Journal'' defending Ozawa, and Lowe wrote to the Journal that he was "frustrated and upset to see my name attached to the article since your reporter did not contact me and chose to quote a letter published nearly four years ago in an internal orchestra publication." Boston Symphony Board of Trustees president Nicholas T. Zervas described Sandow as expressing an "`insulting, reductive, and racist view of zawaas a
samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
kept in place in order to raise Japanese money" - a point Sandow rebutted in a letter to the Journal, saying "These are things I didn’t say. I’d heard the charge about Japanese money while I was writing my piece, so I asked Mark Volpe, the BSO’s General Manager, what he thought of it. Mark refuted it, and I quoted him approvingly." Critic Lloyd Schwarz defended Sandow in the Boston alternative paper, ''The Boston Phoenix'' Various current music critics described a decline in the orchestra's playing during Ozawa's tenure.
Jan Swafford Jan Swafford (born September 10, 1946) is an American author and composer. He earned his Bachelor of Arts '' magna cum laude'' from Harvard College and his M.M.A. and D.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. His teachers included Earl Kim at Harvard, ...
wrote: : "Now and then he gave a standout performance, usually in the full-throated late-Romantic and 20th-century literature, but most of the time what came out was glittering surfaces with nothing substantial beneath: no discernable concept, no vision." In a 2013 survey of recordings of ''
The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring''. Full name: ''The Rite of Spring: Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts'' (french: Le Sacre du printemps: tableaux de la Russie païenne en deux parties) (french: Le Sacre du printemps, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral ...
'' by
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
, a
New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * ''The New ...
music critic, the composer Russell Platt, wrote of: : "Seiji Ozawa’s downright depressing account, recorded in 1979: the Boston Symphony Orchestra's sonic shine, developed by Ozawa's predecessors Monteux and Charles Munch, is audibly dripping away, its dispirited musicians losing their sense of individual responsibility to the score. It is a record of a professional relationship that went on far too long." On June 22, 1999, the symphony announced Ozawa's departure as music director, as of 2002, following the sudden announcement of Ozawa's appointment as music director of the
Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...
- a decision the board had heard about only a day earlier, where Volpe said he was "a little surprised at the timing". He gave his last concert with the orchestra in July 2002. During Ozawa's tenure,
Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...
served as principal guest conductor from 1995 to 2004. Haitink was named conductor emeritus in 2004, and actively served in the post as a returning guest conductor through his retirement in 2019.


Levine and Nelsons

In 2004,
James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...
became the first American-born music director of the BSO. Levine received critical praise for revitalizing the quality and repertoire since the beginning of his tenure, including championing contemporary composers. During Levine's tenure, by February 2009 the BSO had performed 18 world premieres, 12 of them conducted by Levine. To fund the more challenging and expensive of Levine's musical projects with the orchestra, the orchestra established an "Artistic Initiative Fund" of about $40 million. (As of March 2013, the Boston Symphony also claimed an endowment of $413 million, the largest of any orchestra in the world.) Levine suffered from recurring injuries and health problems during his BSO tenure, which led to his resignation as BSO music director as of September 1, 2011. In the wake of Levine's resignation,
Andris Nelsons Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor who is currently the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has previously served as music dire ...
made his first guest-conducting appearance with the BSO in March 2011, as an emergency substitute for Levine at Carnegie Hall in Mahler's Symphony No. 9. He subsequently guest-conducted the BSO at Tanglewood in July 2012, and made his first appearance with the BSO at Symphony Hall in January 2013. In May 2013, the BSO named Nelsons as its 15th music director, effective with the 2014–2015 season. His initial contract was for 5 years, with 8–10 weeks of scheduled appearances in the first year of the contract, and 12 weeks in subsequent years. Nelsons held the title of Music Director Designate for the 2013–2014 season. In August 2015, the BSO announced the extension of Nelsons' contract as music director through the 2021–2022 season, with a new contract of 8 years to replace the initial 5-year contract, and which also contains an evergreen clause for automatic renewal. In October 2020, the BSO announced a further extension of Nelsons' contract as music director through August 2025, with an evergreen clause for automatic renewal. In September 2015, the orchestra announced a new artistic collaboration with the
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...
, of which Nelsons was appointed as its next Gewandhauskapellmeister, effective with the 2017–2018 season.


Unequal-pay lawsuit

On July 2, 2018, BSO principal flautist Elizabeth Rowe filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of
Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston, Chel ...
claiming pay discrimination on the basis of gender. Rowe said she was paid much less than principal
oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...
John Ferrillo since 2004 and was seeking more than $200,000 in unpaid compensation from the orchestra. The BSO tried to discredit Rowe's claim that she was being discriminated against because of the unequal pay compared to Ferrillo by saying in a court filing that the two
wind instruments A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitc ...
were not comparable. After mediation, the case was settled out of court in February 2019 for an undisclosed amount.


Recent history

In January 2020, the BSO cancelled its planned tour of Asia, the first American orchestra to cancel overseas travel in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Subsequent events related to the COVID-19 pandemic included the following: * Cancellation of the 2020 Tanglewood summer festival season * Cancellation of its scheduled subscription concerts through November 2020, the first-ever full cancellation of the orchestra's autumn subscription concerts in its history * Staff redundancies effective September 1, 2020 * Reduction in orchestra musician compensation in its latest labour agreement, from August 24, 2020 through August 27, 2023 The most recent president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the BSO was Gail Samuel, as of 21 June 2021. Samuel is the first woman to be named to the posts in the history of the orchestra. In December 2022, the BSO announced simultaneously the resignation of Samuel as its president and CEO, effective 3 January 2023, and the appointment of Jeffrey D. Dunn as its interim president and CEO, effective 4 January 2023.


Related ensembles

The
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 Symp ...
, the Boston Symphony Orchestra minus its principal players, was founded in 1885, and plays lighter, more popular classics, and
show tunes A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Th ...
.
Arthur Fiedler Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one o ...
was the conductor who did the most to increase the fame of the Boston Pops over his tenure from 1930 to 1979. Film composer
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
succeeded Fiedler as the conductor of the Pops from 1980 to 1993. Since 1995, the conductor of the Boston Pops has been
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 Carol ...
. The Boston Symphony Chamber Players were launched in 1964. Today they are the only chamber ensemble composed of principal players from an American symphony orchestra. In addition to regular performances in Boston and Tanglewood, they have performed throughout the United States and Europe. They have also recorded for RCA Victor, DG, Philips, and Nonesuch. Performing with the BSO and Boston Pops for major choral works is the
Tanglewood Festival Chorus The Tanglewood Festival Chorus, directed by James Burton, is a chorus which performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops in major choral works. The Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC) was organized in the spring of 1970, when founding co ...
. Organized in 1970 by its founding director,
John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...
, the Chorus comprises over 300 volunteer singers. Before the creation of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and for some time after, the BSO frequently employed the New England Conservatory Chorus conducted by Lorna Cooke DeVaron, Chorus Pro Musica,
Harvard Glee Club The Harvard Glee Club is a 60-voice, Tenor-Bass choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1858 in the tradition of English and American glee clubs, it is the oldest collegiate chorus in the United States. The Glee Club is part of the H ...
and
Radcliffe Choral Society The Radcliffe Choral Society (RCS) is a 60-voice treble choral ensemble at Harvard University. Founded in 1899, it is one of the country's oldest soprano-alto choruses and one of its most prominent collegiate choirs. With the tenor-bass Harvard ...
. In February 2017, the BSO announced the appointment of
James Burton James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana) is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 (his induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards), Burton has also been recognized ...
as the new conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and as the newly created BSO Choral Director, both with immediate effect. Burton founded the Boston Symphony Children's Choir in 2018.


Recordings

The Boston Symphony made its first acoustical recordings in 1917 in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...
for the
Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidia ...
conducted by
Karl Muck Karl Muck (October 22, 1859 – March 3, 1940) was a German-born conductor of Classical music. He based his activities principally in Europe and mostly in opera. His American career comprised two stints at the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO). M ...
. Among the first discs recorded was the finale to
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
's fourth symphony. Under Serge Koussevitzky, the orchestra made its first electrical recordings, also for Victor, in the late 1920s. These electrical recordings included
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
's ''
Boléro ''Boléro'' is a 1928 work for large orchestra by French composer Maurice Ravel. At least one observer has called it Ravel's most famous composition. It was also one of his last completed works before illness forced him into retirement. Co ...
''. Recording sessions took place in Symphony Hall. Koussevitzky's final recording with the Boston Symphony was a high fidelity version of
Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...
' Symphony No. 2, recorded in 1950 and released on LP. In February 1954, RCA Victor began recording the orchestra in stereo, under the direction of Charles Munch. RCA Victor continued to record Munch and the orchestra through 1962, his final year as music director in Boston (see the Charles Munch discography for a complete list of commercial recordings with the BSO under Charles Munch). During Munch's tenure, Pierre Monteux made a series of records with the BSO for RCA Victor (see
Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in ...
for a complete list of commercial recordings with the BSO). Erich Leinsdorf, who had already made numerous recordings for RCA Victor, continued his association with the company during his seven years in Boston. These included a critically acclaimed performance of Brahms' ''German Requiem'' (see
Erich Leinsdorf Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a ...
for a complete list). Then, the orchestra switched to
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
(DG) under William Steinberg. RCA Victor recorded several LPs with Steinberg and Berlioz's ''
Symphonie Fantastique ' (''Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections'') Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important piece of the early Romantic period. The first performan ...
'' with
Georges Prêtre Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Prêtre was born in Waziers ( Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting ...
during the transition to DG (see
William Steinberg William Steinberg (Cologne, August 1, 1899New York City, May 16, 1978) was a German-American conductor. Biography Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany. He displayed early talent as a violinist, pianist, and composer, ...
for a complete list of commercial recordings).
Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of ...
, who was the assistant conductor and associate conductor under Steinberg, also made several recordings for DG; some of these have been reissued on CD. Due to Steinberg's illness, DG recorded the BSO with
Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. Son of a well-known violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague, and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 1 ...
in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 (part of his cycle of Beethoven symphonies with nine different orchestras), '' Ma Vlast'' by
Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...
and in
Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...
's Concerto for Orchestra as well as with
Eugen Jochum Eugen Jochum (; 1 November 1902 – 26 March 1987) was a German conductor, best known for his interpretations of the music of Anton Bruckner, Carl Orff, and Johannes Brahms, among others. Biography Jochum was born to a Roman Catholic family in ...
conducting Symphony No. 41 by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
and
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...
's Symphony No. 8. As a guest conductor in the 1960s, Ozawa made several recordings with the BSO for RCA Victor. He continued the BSO relationship with DG while making several other releases fo
New World Records
Over the course of Ozawa's tenure, the BSO diversified its relationships, making recordings under Ozawa with CBS, EMI,
Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in A ...
, RCA, and
TELARC Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...
. The BSO also recorded for Philips under Colin Davis.
Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...
made records for both Columbia and DG with the BSO, including selections from his last concert ever as a conductor on August 19, 1990 at Tanglewood. The BSO has also appeared on Decca with
Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...
, with
Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit (born 7 October 1936) is a Swiss conductor. He is currently the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia and co-director of thMISA Festival in Shanghai In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of th ...
and
André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...
for DG, and on Phillips and Sony Classical with Bernard Haitink. The BSO has also done recordings for film scores on occasion. Films such as ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film fo ...
'' and ''
Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depictio ...
'' (both composed and conducted by
John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
) were recorded by the orchestra at Symphony Hall. In the James Levine era, the BSO had no standing recording contract with a major label; the Grammy Award-winning recording of Levine conducting the BSO with
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (March 1, 1954 – July 3, 2006) was an American mezzo-soprano. She was noted for her performances of both Baroque era and contemporary works. Her career path to becoming a singer was unconventional – formerly a pro ...
in
Peter Lieberson Peter Goddard Lieberson (25 October 1946 – 23 April 2011) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. His song cycles include two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music: '' Rilke Songs'' and ''Neruda Songs''; the latter won t ...
's ''Neruda Songs'', released on
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...
, was the only major label recording during Levine's tenure. On February 19, 2009, the BSO announced the launch of a new series of recordings on their own label, BSO Classics. Some of the recordings are available only as digital downloads. The initial recordings included live concert performances of
William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...
's 8th Symphony and ''Lyric Concerto,'' the latter with flutist James Galway,
Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
's Sixth Symphony, the Brahms ''Ein deutsches Requiem'', and
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
's complete ''
Daphnis et Chloé ''Daphnis et Chloé'' is a 1912 ''symphonie chorégraphique'', or choreographic symphony, for orchestra and wordless chorus by Maurice Ravel. It is in three main sections, or ''parties'', and a dozen scenes, most of them dances, and lasts just u ...
'', which won the
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by man ...
. In April 2015, the BSO announced a new recording partnership with
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
that focuses on the music of
Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...
, with Nelsons as conductor. The first recording in the series, of the Tenth Symphony recorded in concert in April 2015, was released on CD in August 2015, and subsequently won the year's Grammy award for Best Orchestral Performance.


Music directors


In popular culture

In the 1974–1975 American television
situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''
Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers ''Friends and Lovers'' (also known as ''Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers'') is an American sitcom starring Paul Sand which centers on a musician in Boston, Massachusetts, and his personal relationships. It was Sand's only starring role in a televis ...
'', several cast members played fictional personnel of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The shows star,
Paul Sand Paul Sand (born March 5, 1932) is an American actor and comedian. Background Sand was born Pablo Sanchez in Santa Monica, California, in 1932, the son of Ernest Rivera Sanchez, an aerospace tool designer, and Sonia Borodiansky (aka Sonia Stone) ...
, portrayed Robert Dreyfuss, who played
double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
, while
Steve Landesberg Stephen Landesberg (November 23, 1936December 20, 2010) was an American actor and comedian known for his role as the erudite, unflappable police detective Arthur P. Dietrich on the ABC sitcom ''Barney Miller'', for which he was nominated for th ...
played violinist Fred Meyerbach.
Craig Richard Nelson Craig Richard Nelson (born September 17, 1947) is an American actor in theater, film and television. Life and career Nelson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and grew up as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He studie ...
was the orchestras conductor, Mason Woodruff, and Dick Wesson was its manager, Jack Riordan. In one episode, Roberts father Ben, played by
Jack Gilford Jack Gilford (born Jacob Aaron Gellman; July 25, 1908 – June 4, 1990) was an American Broadway, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for ''Save the Tiger'' (1973). Early life Gilfor ...
, had a job in the orchestras ticket office. Guest stars who appeared as musicians playing in or with the orchestra during the shows 15-episode run included
Henry Winkler Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE (born October 30, 1945), is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. After rising to fame as Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the American television series ''Happy Days'', Winkler has ...
as a cellist,
Leon Askin Leon Askin (; born Leon Aschkenasy, 18 September 1907 – 3 June 2005) was an Austrian Jewish actor best known in North America for portraying the character General Burkhalter on the TV situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes''. Life and career A ...
as a violinist, and
Susan Neher Susan Marie Neher (February 22, 1959 – August 2, 2022) was an American actress, active as a child, best known for originating the role of Joanie Cunningham on ''Happy Days'' in its first iteration as a segment of the anthology series '' Love, A ...
as a flutist.


See also

*
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 Symp ...
* Charles Munch discography


Notes

;Additional sources * * ;Further reading *Boston Symphony Orchestra. Season programmes. 22nd season, 1902–190
Google books
29th season, 1909–191
Internet Archive
36th season, 1916–191
Google books


External links


Official Boston Symphony Orchestra WebsiteOfficial BSO page on orchestra historyDiscography at SonyBMG Masterworks
*Edgers, Geoff
"6 minutes to shine"
''The Boston Globe'', September 4, 2005.

A film about the BSO Premiere of Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie, from the Philharmonia Orchestra's Messiaen Website.
Boston Public Library
on Flickr. Programme from U.S. premiere of Prokofiev's
Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's s ...
, Symphony Hall, March 25, 1938. {{Authority control Culture of Boston Musical groups from Boston Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras Orchestras based in Massachusetts Musical groups established in 1881 Arts organizations established in 1881 1881 establishments in Massachusetts DreamWorks Records artists RCA Records artists Cedille Records artists