History
The Walla Walla Symphony began with the formation of a "Symphony Club" in June 1907 by a small group who wanted to bring great music to their community. Following the adoption of a constitution and by-laws, the club's board of directors met for the first time on July 1. At a second meeting in September they voted to hire Edgar Fischer to direct an orchestra that would function as a separate entity from the music schools in the community. The first performance of that 29-member group on December 12, 1907 was one of several activities during that season. The club held a series of meetings to study music, presented two more concerts, and sponsored a local performance by the nationally known New York Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Walter Damrosch. While that initial year was an exhilarating success, those that followed would be challenging as the orchestra's founders struggled with finances and often presented concerts to small audiences in less than ideal circumstances. Following the unexpected death of Edgar Fischer at age 49 in 1922, and after two years of interim leadership, Fischer's wife, Alice, a talented pianist and singer, assumed direction of the group. At a time when women conductors were rare, she proved to be an effective and inspiring leader and led the orchestra until it celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1932. Although the Symphony Club, renamed Symphony Society, continued without break as an organization through the Great Depression years, it suspended concerts during the season following the 25th because of financial conditions in the community. After it resumed concerts in 1934, four conductors led the group over the next eleven years, with Walter Wren and Frank Beezhold, both accomplished violinists, each serving for four years. The orchestra grew and flourished under Beezhold's leadership during the World War II years, because of the location of an Army air force base and military hospital in the community, and a Naval V-12 training program at Whitman College. As the war ended in 1945, Beezhold left to be concertmaster of theMusic Directors and Conductors
* 1907-1922 Edgar Fischer * 1922-1923 Gottfried Herbst * 1923-1924 Karel Havlicek * 1924-1934 Alice Reynolds Fischer * 1934-1936 Victor Johnson * 1936-1940 Walter Wren * 1940-1941 Frank Beezhold * 1941-1942 Nelson O. Schreiber *1942-1945 Frank Beezhold * 1945-1969 William H. Bailey * 1969-1976 Jose Rambaldi * 1977-1986 R. Lee Friese * 1986-1987 Cindy Egolf Sham-Rao * 1987–Present Yaacov BergmanWorld Premiere Compositions
*1981 ''Symphony No. 47, "Walla Walla, Land of Many Waters,"'' Alan Hovhaness *1989 ''The Legend of Chief Joseph'', John Verral *1993 ''Lyric Symphony'', John Verral *1994 ''Escapade'', Marvin Schluger *1995 ''An American Concerto'', Gwyneth Walker *1996 ''The Manhattan Jazz Suite'', Marvin Schluger *1997 ''Premiere Ouverture, Op. 23'', Louise Farrenc (Modern World Premiere) *1998 ''Jazz Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra'', Marvin Schluger *1998 ''Christmas Fantasy for Jazz Quintet and Orchestra'', David Glenn *2001 ''Symphony No. 2'', John David Earnest *2001 ''Overture to the Millenium'', Marvin Schluger *2001 ''Artist Portraits'', David Glenn *2001 ''Chant and Improvisation'', Tom Simon *2002 ''Piano Concerto'', Tania Cronin *2005 ''Svanen'', Elfrida Andrée (Modern World Premiere) *2006 ''Chasing the Light'', William Berry *2006 ''Variations on a Gregorian Chant for Jazz Trio and Orchestra'', Tom Simon *2007 ''Great River Percussion Concerto'', Forrest Pierce *2007 ''A Valley of Streams for Jazz Quintet and Orchestra'', David Glenn *2009 ''A Hamchilla Holiday'', Parker Davis *2010 ''Blessings From the Children'', Gwyneth Walker *2011 ''FanTAStic! A Celebration of 25 Fantastic Years'', William BerryReferences
* Shultz, D. (2006). "A Dream Fulfilled"External links
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