The National Philharmonic (NatPhil) at Strathmore is an orchestra with over fifty professional musicians based at the

Music Center at Strathmore Strathmore is a cultural and artistic venue and institution in North Bethesda, Maryland, United States. Strathmore was founded in 1981 and consists of two venues: the Mansion and the Music Center. It is the home to hundreds of performances and ...

North Bethesda, Maryland North Bethesda is an unincorporated, census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, located just north-west of the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. It had a population of 50,094 as of the 2020 census. Among its neighb ...

. Founded in the mid-1980s as the Montgomery Chamber Orchestra by principal conductor

Piotr Gajewski Piotr Marcin (Peter) Gajewski (born January 12, 1959 in Warsaw, Poland)Massachusetts, United States Naturalization Records, 1871-1991 is a Polish former politician, artistic director, conductor, and founder of the National Philharmonic, current ...

, it became the National Philharmonic in 2003 after merging with the Masterworks Chorus. Originally based in the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theater in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...

, it became the Music Center at Strathmore's ensemble-in-residence when that facility opened in 2005. In 2021, the orchestra began performing at the newly-opened Capital One Hall in

Tysons, Virginia Tysons, also known as Tysons Corner, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, developed from the corner of Chain Bridge Road ( SR 123) and the Leesburg Pike ( SR 7). Located in Northern Virginia between the ...

. The largest and most active orchestra in

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

, it gives over thirty performances a year often accompanied by world-renowned guest artists like Brian Ganz,

Sarah Chang Sarah Chang ( ko, 장영주; born Young Joo Chang; December 10, 1980) is a Korean American classical violinist. Recognized as a child prodigy, she first played as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1989. Sh ...

, and

Zuill Bailey James Zuill Bailey, better known as Zuill Bailey (born 1972) is a Grammy Award-winning American cellist, chamber musician, and artistic director. A graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the Juilliard School, he has ...

, or by leading musicians with the elite orchestras in the area, like

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

Nurit Bar-Joseph of the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Mem ...

. The orchestra provides hands-on music instruction for all second-graders in Montgomery County public schools continuing through middle school and high school with opportunities to perform in youth ensembles and master classes. Additionally, concert admission was free to all youths. The orchestra threatened to close in July 2019, citing increased costs and reduced funding from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, but reorganization and a fundraising effort that brought in $500,000 enabled it to continue operating.

References

External links

* Symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 2003 Orchestras based in Maryland Montgomery County, Maryland Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras 2003 establishments in Maryland {{US-orchestra-stub