The Charleston Symphony Orchestra aka CSO, is an American orchestra based in

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

and performs Masterworks and Pops series, Youth Orchestra concerts and more, at the Gaillard Center and dozens of other venues across the

Lowcountry The Lowcountry (sometimes Low Country or just low country) is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an import ...

. The current roster of full-time, salaried core musicians is 24. The orchestra supplements its core by bringing more than 400 professionally auditioned guest musicians to Charleston annually.

History

Maude Winthrop Gibbon and Martha Laurens Patterson founded the orchestra in 1936. The orchestra gave its first concert on 28 December 1936, conducted by Tony Hadgi, at the

Dock Street Theatre The Dock Street Theatre is a theater in the historic French Quarter neighborhood of downtown Charleston, South Carolina. History The structure, which was built as a hotel in 1809 and converted to a theater in 1935, occupies the site of the first ...

. The orchestra subsequently relocated to the

Memminger Auditorium Memminger Auditorium (also known as Festival Hall) is a live performance and special events venue in Charleston, South Carolina. PWA funding Local school officials had wanted to add an auditorium to the then-Memminger High School by the mid-19 ...

. In the 1980s, the orchestra took up residence at the Gaillard Municipal Auditorium, now folded into the Gaillard Center. The longest-serving music director of the orchestra was David Stahl, from 1984 until his death on 24 October 2010. Following Stahl's death, Yuriy Bekker served as the orchestra's acting artistic director from 2010 to 2014. In 2016, Bekker became the principal pops conductor of the orchestra. In 2022, Yuriy Bekker was appointed as Artistic Director. The most recent music director was Ken Lam, whom the orchestra appointed to the post in 2014, and who began his first full season with the orchestra in September 2015. He concluded his tenure as music director after the 2021–2022 season. In March 2010 financial problems forced a temporary closure of operations, which restarted in December 2010 after a deal was reached between the musicians and management to reduce the number of core musicians to 24. In March 2021, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the orchestra announced an artistic restructuring. This follows the organization's $1 million loss in revenue from ticket sales and local government funding. Aligning with the CSO's COVID-19 recovery plan, the reorganization eliminated the full-time position of music director. In response to declining access to arts education, the CSO offers of K-12 educational programming in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, Dorchester, and

counties with a focus on Title I schools. The CSO plays two Young People's Concerts each season, conducts master classes and in-school performances, and hosted the National Young Artist Competition in 2014, 2015, and 2016. The CSO has repeat interactions with approximately 30,000 students per season.

Music Directors

* Tony Hadgi (1936-1940) * J. Albert Frecht (1941-1958) * Don Mills (1959-1963) * Lucien DeGroote (1964-1981) * David Stahl (1984-2010) * Ken Lam (2014–2022)

References

External links

Official website of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1936 American orchestras Symphony orchestras Performing arts in South Carolina Musical groups from South Carolina