The Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra (HSO) 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

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra can be traced back to the early 1930s during the throes of the Great Depression. The orchestra gave its first concert at William Penn High School in Harrisburg on March 19, 1931. The conductor on that occasion was Maestro George King Raudenbush, who was to become the orchestra's first music director. By the end of 1931 the orchestra had moved its concerts to the newly opened Forum Auditorium, part of the Capitol Complex, where it still performs to this day. The 1931–32 season included four concerts. The cost of a subscription: $2.00. The orchestra membership consists of professional players from Central Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC, New York, and other regions. Being able to select from such a wide variety of talent pools enables the HSO to perform at a particularly high artistic level. The HSO membership is represented by American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 269, and the group is a member of ROPA, the Regional Orchestra Players' Association.

Music directors

1931-1950: George King Raudenbush
1950-1974: Edwin McArthur
1974-1978: David Epstein
1978-1994: Larry Newland
1995-1999:

Richard Westerfield Richard Westerfield is an American conductor. He has served as Associate Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and has led orchestras such as the Brown University Orchestra, the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Alabama Symphony Orches ...

2000–Present: Stuart Malina

Youth Symphony Orchestra

The Harrisburg Youth Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1953 and one of the oldest youth symphonies in the country. The Youth Symphony operates under the umbrella of the Harrisburg Symphony. The current conductor of the Youth Symphony is Gregory Woodbridge.

References

Mission and History of Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra

External links

HSO official site
{{authority control Organizations based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Culture of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Performing arts in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Musical groups established in 1931 Orchestras based in Pennsylvania