The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. Its primary concert venue is

Music Hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cincinnati Symphony is the resident orchestra for the

Cincinnati May Festival The Cincinnati May Festival is a two-week annual choral festival, held in May in Cincinnati, Ohio, US. History The festival's roots go back to the 1840s, when '' Saengerfests'' were held in that city, bringing singers from all over the United Sta ...

, the Cincinnati Opera, and the

Cincinnati Ballet The Cincinnati Ballet is a professional ballet company founded in 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States and had its first performance in 1964. The current artistic director is Victoria Morgan. Founding Organizing founders Nancy Bauer, Virgini ...

. Additionally, the orchestra supports the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra (CSYO), a program for young musicians in grades 9 to 12.

History

Several orchestras had existed in Cincinnati between 1825 and 1872. The immediate precursor ensemble to the current orchestra was the Cincinnati Orchestra, founded in 1872. In 1893, Helen Herron Taft founded the Cincinnati Orchestra Association, and the name of the orchestra was formalised to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra gave its first concerts in 1895 at

Pike's Opera House Pike's Opera House, later renamed the Grand Opera House, was a theater in New York City on the northwest corner of 8th Avenue and 23rd Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. It was constructed in 1868, at a cost of a million dollar ...

. A year later, the orchestra moved to

. Its first conductor was

Frank Van der Stucken Frank Valentine Van der Stucken (October 15, 1858 – August 16, 1929) was a Belgian-American composer, conductor, and founding conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 1895. Biography Van der Stucken was born in Fredericksburg, Texas ...

, a Texas-born musician of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

ancestry, who served until 1907. In the early years, the orchestra welcomed such composers as

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 and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

and

Edward McDowell Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites '' Woodland Sketches'', ''Sea Pieces'' and ''N ...

. The orchestra also performed the U.S. premiere of the Symphony No. 5 of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

. For three years, the orchestra was disbanded due to labor disputes and financial problems. Upon its reorganisation in 1909,

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

, then a young organist from England, served as the music director of the newly organised orchestra for 3 years, to 1912, his first music directorship of any orchestra. In 1911, the orchestra relocated from Music Hall to Emery Auditorium. Subsequent music directors included

Ernst Kunwald Ernst Kunwald (April 14, 1868 – December 12, 1939) was an Austrian conductor. Life Ernst Kunwald was born and died in Vienna. He studied law at the University of Vienna, earning his Dr. Juris in 1891. He also studied piano with Teodor Lesz ...

through 1918,

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysa ...

(1918–1922), Fritz Reiner (1922–1933), and Eugene Goossens (1933–1947). The orchestra returned to Music Hall in 1936. Its musical landmarks during this period included the U.S. premiere of Mahler's '' Symphony No. 3'' (1912), its first recordings (1917), first national tours, and the world premieres of Aaron Copland's '' Fanfare for the Common Man'' and '' Lincoln Portrait''. Thor Johnson became music director in 1947, and led the orchestra in some of the first stereo recordings for

Remington Records Remington Records was a low budget record label. It existed from 1950 until 1957 and specialized in classical music. Unfortunately, the discs suffered from considerable surface noise.Soundfountain website History The earliest Remington recordings ...

. Max Rudolf succeeded Johnson in 1958. Thomas Schippers became music director in 1970, but died abruptly in 1977. The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra was formed in 1977, with Erich Kunzel as its conductor. After Schippers' death, Walter Susskind served as artistic advisor of the orchestra from 1978 until his own death in 1980. In 1980, Michael Gielen became music director in 1980 and held the post until 1986.

Jesús López-Cobos Jesus ( AD 30 or 33) was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who most Christians believe to be the incarnation of God and Muslims believe was a prophet. Jesus may also refer to: People Religious figures * Elymas Bar-Jesus, a Jew in the ''Ac ...

became music director in 1986. His achievements included leading on a 1995 European tour, their first since 1969, and their first national television appearance on PBS. His 15-year music directorship remains the longest tenure of the orchestra. In September 2001, he became the orchestra's emeritus music director.

Recent history

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra17 (36796103251)

From 2001 to 2011, the orchestra's music director was Paavo Järvi. The orchestra made a number of recordings for the Telarc label during Järvi's tenure. In January 2007, the orchestra reported financial difficulties, projecting a monetary deficit of about US$2 million for the current fiscal year. In 2009, those difficulties, in addition to the purchase of Telarc by the Concord Music Group, led to the termination of the orchestra's recording contract. In late 2009, Cincinnati arts patron and philanthropist Louise Nippert announced a gift of $85 million (USD) for the orchestra. The orchestra was scheduled to receive directly about $3 million each year (around 75% of its annual distribution). 12% and 5% was allocated to the Cincinnati Opera and Ballet companies, respectively, with the intent of maintaining the Cincinnati Symphony as the resident orchestra for those organisations. In December 2010,

John Morris Russell John Morris Russell (born June 6, 1960), also known as JMR, is an American orchestral conductor best known for his association with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife and tw ...

was named the new conductor of the Cincinnati Pops, following the death in 2009 of Erich Kunzel. After the conclusion of his music directorship in 2011, Järvi was named music director laureate. In January 2011, as part of the interim period after the conclusion of Järvi's music directorship and during the search for a new music director, the orchestra named a number of musicians to "Creative Director" posts to curate various concert series. For the 2011–2012 season, these musicians were: * Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Creative Director of the Masterworks Series *

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

, Creative Director of the Boundless Series *

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

, Creative Director of the Ascent Series For the 2012–2013 season, Frühbeck de Burgos reprised his role as Creative Director of the Masterworks Series. For the other two series, new musicians were named as directors: *

Jennifer Higdon Jennifer Elaine Higdon (born December 31, 1962) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto and three Grammy Award for Best Contemp ...

, Creative Director of the Boundless Series *

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ens ...

, Creative Director of the Ascent Series. In 2010, the Orchestra launched its own record label, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Media. The inaugural album on the new label, "American Portraits," was released internationally in January 2011. In November 2011, it became the first orchestra in the world to establish a tweeting zone at its concerts. In March 2011,

Louis Langrée Louis Langrée (born 11 January 1961) is a French conductor. He is the son of organist and theorist Alain Langrée. One of his sisters is an amateur cellist. Biography Early years Langrée studied at the Strasbourg Conservatory, but had no f ...

first guest-conducted the orchestra. Based on this appearance, in April 2012, the orchestra named Langrée as its 13th music director, effective as of the 2013–2014 season, with an initial contract of four years. He took the title of music director-designate with immediate effect. In March 2015, the orchestra announced the extension of Langrée's contract as music director through the 2019–2020 season. In February 2017, the orchestra further extended his contract through the 2021–2022 season. In January 2020, the orchestra announced the newest extension of Langrée's contract, through the 2023–2024 season. In June 2021, the orchestra announced that Langrée is to conclude his tenure as its music director at the close of the 2023–2024 season.

Premieres

The following is a list of U.S. and world premieres of works at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and May Festival (MF):

References

External links

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
*
Music Hall: Cincinnati Finds Its Voice
Music Hall documentary on

WCET-TV WCET, virtual channel 48 (UHF digital channel 17), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The station is owned by the Greater Cincinnati Television Educational Foundation, a ...

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1895 Musical groups from Cincinnati Decca Records artists Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras Orchestras based in Ohio 1895 establishments in Ohio