The Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts was created in 2019 when the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Ballet merged. Based in Toledo,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, it operated with a $13.2 million budget in its fiscal year 2020 and maintains the two brand names Toledo Symphony (sic) and Toledo Ballet, each with its own website. The orchestra part of TAPA performs at various venues, including the

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

Peristyle Theater, the

Valentine Theatre The Valentine Theatre is located in the downtown district of Toledo, Ohio at the corner of Superior and Adams Streets. The -year-old facility seats 901. From 1925 to approximately 1928 The Toledo Society for the Blind (Now the Sight Center of Nor ...

, the Toledo Club, the

Stranahan Theater The Stranahan Theater & Great Hall, commonly known as the Stranahan Theater is a 2,424-seat concert hall located in Toledo, Ohio. The facility was constructed in 1969 and until the mid-1990s was called Masonic Auditorium because attached to the we ...

and some twenty churches and performing arts centers across the region.

History of the orchestra part of TAPA

There were several early attempts to create the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Arthur W. Kortheuer led an orchestra from 1897-1912 at several venues, including the Valentine Theatre. Successive ensembles briefly appeared in 1913-14 and 1916-17. Lewis H. Clement led an orchestra from 1920-1926, with concerts at Scott High School and other auditoriums. An orchestra performed for two seasons at the Paramount Theater, including a gala concert in May 1940 featuring

Lily Pons Alice Joséphine Pons (April 12, 1898 – February 13, 1976), known professionally as Lily Pons, was a French-American operatic soprano and actress who had an active career from the late 1920s through the early 1970s. As an opera singer, she s ...

. The orchestra began formally three years later as the "Friends of Music", giving its first concert on September 28, 1943, at Macomber Vocational High School; Edgar Schenkman was its first conductor, leading 22 musicians in a three-concert season.

Recent history

The orchestra's most recent Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor was

Stefan Sanderling Stefan Sanderling (born 2 August 1964 in East Berlin, East Germany) is an orchestral conductor. He is the son of the conductor Kurt Sanderling and the double-bass player Barbara Sanderling. His half-brother is the conductor Thomas Sanderling. ...

. The orchestra initially appointed him as Principal Guest Conductor, effective with the 2002-2003 season, with a contract of 2 years. The orchestra subsequently elevated his title to Principal Conductor, and Sanderling remained in the post from 2002 to 2017. During Sanderling's tenure, the orchestra made its Carnegie Hall debut in May 2011 as part of the 'Spring for Music' festival. In March 2010,

Alain Trudel Alain Trudel (born 13 June 1966) is a Canadian conductor, trombonist and composer. Biography Born in Montreal, Quebec, Trudel first became known to the public as a trombone soloist. He made his solo debut at the age of 18, with Charles Dutoit a ...

first guest-conducted the orchestra. He returned to the podium again in April 2017 with Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, and in June 2017, the orchestra announced the appointment of Trudel as its next Music Director, effective with the 2018-2019 season, with an initial contract of 3 years. He held the title of Music Director Designate during the 2017-2018 season.

List of music directors

* Edgar Schenkman (1943-1946) *

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 ...

(1946–1949) * Wolfgang Stresemann (1949-1955) *

Joseph Hawthorne Joseph Campbell Hawthorne (1908 – March 20, 1994) was an American conductor, violinist, violist, and military officer. Born in Provincetown, Massachusetts, he was the son of artists Charles Webster Hawthorne and Ethel "Marion" Campbell. After ...

(1955–1963) * Serge Fournier (1964–1979) *

Joseph Silverstein Joseph Harry Silverstein (March 21, 1932 – November 21, 2015) was an American violinist and conductor. Known to family, friends and colleagues as "Joey", Silverstein was born in Detroit. As a youth, Silverstein studied with his father, Bernard ...

(1979–1980; interim director) *

Yuval Zaliouk Yuval Zaliouk (יובל צליוק, born 1939 in Haifa) is an Israeli- American conductor. Born into a musical family, he was educated at the Haifa Academy of MusicOle Schmidt (1989–1991; interim director) * Andrew Massey (1991–2002) *

(2003–2017) *

(2018–present)

History of the dance part of TAPA

Toledo Ballet
was founded in 1939 by Marie Bollinger Vogt. Two years later the first production in the United States of Tchaikovsky's ''Nutcracker'' ballet took place in Toledo, with an orchestra, the Friends of Music, precursor to the Toledo Symphony. Although only an abridged score was permitted outside Russia at that time, more and more of the score would be released over time, and Toledo Ballet continued to grow its production, so that, to this day, the company holds the record for the longest consecutively running production of this famous work in the nation. In 1958 citizens interested in supporting Toledo Ballet’s mission founded the Toledo Ballet Association, which, in 1963, was incorporated as a non-profit organization. After a 55-year career as artistic director, Vogt stepped down in 1995. Nigel Burgoine then held the post until 2005. Under him, Toledo Ballet and the Valentine Theatre co-presented international dance companies. Starting in 1998, Open Door to Dance was presented in Northwest Ohio schools. In 1999, First Steps, a dance education program for kindergarteners linking dance and literature, was presented in area Title-I-funded schools. In 2007 Toledo Ballet moved to expanded studio space at Franklin Park Mall, and alumna Lisa Mayer-Lang was appointed school director. During this time the company premiered nine original productions. In 2014 Lang became artistic director, serving until 2022, when dancer, educator and choreographe
Eric Otto
was appointed artistic director and head of curriculum.

Background to TAPA

After decades-long collaboration, notably on the ''Nutcracker'', the symphony orchestra and ballet company realized more synergies in 2017, in marketing and ticketing. On January 1, 2019, they merged to form the Toledo Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing live music and dance performances, as well as education, for the region. The new entity is one of only a few in the nation. and it promises to integrate the arts through shared missions.

References

Culture of Toledo, Ohio Musical groups established in 1943 Orchestras based in Ohio 1943 establishments in Ohio {{US-orchestra-stub