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The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra is an American orchestra based in
Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
. The orchestra's primary concert venues are the Embassy Theatre and the Auer Performance Hall at
Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...
(IPFW). The orchestra's current music director is Andrew Constantine.


History

The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1944, and gave its first concert on October 18, 1944, at the Palace Theatre. The first music director was the German-born Hans Schwieger (1907-2000). Under Schwieger's direction, the orchestra featured such soloists as
William Kapell William Kapell (September 20, 1922October 29, 1953) was an American pianist and recording artist, killed at the age of 31 in the crash of a commercial airliner returning from a concert tour in Australia. Biography William Kapell was born in New ...
,
Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...
, and
Mario Lanza Mario Lanza (, ; born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza ; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at ...
. In the summer of 1948,
Igor Buketoff Igor Konstantin Buketoff (29 May 19157 September 2001) was an American conductor, arranger and teacher. He had a special affinity with Russian music and with Sergei Rachmaninoff in particular. He also strongly promoted British contemporary music ...
became the orchestra's second music director, and served in the post until 1966, the longest serving music director to date. Successive music directors have been James Sample (1967-1970) and Thomas Briccetti (1970-1977). From 1978 to 1993, the orchestra's music director was Ronald Ondrejka (1932-2016). During Ondrejka's tenure, the orchestra's budget tripled in size, and new programming initiatives included regular collaboration with the Fort Wayne Ballet. Edvard Tchivzhel succeeded Ondrejka as music director in 1993, and served in the post until the end of the 2007–2008 season.  
Jaime Laredo Jaime Laredo (born June 7, 1941) is a violinist and conductor. He was the conductor and Music Director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and he began his musical career when he was five years old. Laredo was born in Cochabamba, Bolivia. In 194 ...
served as artistic advisor for the 2008–2009 season, in the absence of a full-time music director. The English conductor Andrew Constantine was named the orchestra's next music director in July 2009. His current contract with the orchestra is through 2020.   Since 1980, the orchestra has won five awards for adventuresome programming from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers). The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus is affiliated with the orchestra, and its current director is Benjamin Rivera. In addition, a chamber orchestra from the full Philharmonic has performed summer concerts. Members of the orchestra have also participated in the "Summer Symphony", founded by Joseph M. Woods in 1956, who played with the Philharmonic from 1948 to 1950. Concerts have taken place at the Foellinger Theatre in Franke Park, led by former principal trombonist David Cooke.


Broadcasts and recordings

Tchivzhel and the orchestra recorded a commercial CD at the Honeywell Center in Wabash, which includes
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 ''Symphony No. 6'' and
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and early Modernism (music), modern eras, he has been descr ...
' symphonic poem ''Don Juan''. The Philharmonic made a new commercial recording during a concert in the Auer Performance Hall at Purdue-Fort Wayne on March 18, 2018, devoted to three works by the Austrian-American composer
Walter Bricht Walter Bricht (September 21, 1904 – March 20, 1970) was a noted Austrian-American pianist, composer and teacher. Early life Born in Vienna, Bricht was exposed to multiple musical influences from his youth. His father, Balduin Bricht, was ...
(1904-1970). Performances are often rebroadcast on a delay by local National Public Radio affiliates, typically WBNI 89.1-2.


Music directors

* Hans Schwieger (1944–1948) * Igor Buketoff (1948–1966) * James Sample (1967–1970) * Thomas Briccetti (1970–1977) * Ronald Ondrejka (1978–1993) * Edvard Tchivzhel (1993–2008) * Andrew Constantine (2010–present)


Executive directors (partial list)

* Peter Smith (1976–1985) * Christopher D. Guerin (1985–2005) * Daniel Ross (interim, 2005–2006) * J.L. Nave (2006–2014) * James Palermo (2015–2022) * Brittany Hall (2022–present)


References


External links


Official website of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic

Official website of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Players Association

Official web page of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus


Note on sources

Eyewitness accounts by Robert E. Nylund form part of the reference material for this article. {{authority control American orchestras Culture of Fort Wayne, Indiana Tourist attractions in Fort Wayne, Indiana Musical groups established in 1944 Musical groups from Indiana Performing arts in Indiana