The Sacramento Philharmonic is a symphony

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 ...

in the

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region, established in 1997 after the disbandment of the Sacramento Symphony that same year. Led by Maestro Michael Morgan until his death in 2021, the orchestra performs at the Community Center Theatre and at the

Mondavi Center The Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts venue located on the UC Davis campus in unincorporated Yolo County, California. It is named for arts patron and vineyard operator Robert Mondavi, who donated US$1 ...

at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

History

Sacramento Symphony Orchestra

The Sacramento Symphony was established in 1948 and rapidly became a large regional orchestra made up of local professional musicians. However, starting in 1986 and continuing through the mid-1990s, the Sacramento Symphony had severe administrative difficulties and ran into significant operating deficits, repeatedly filing for bankruptcy. Despite several moderate bail-outs from businesses, the general public and local government, in 1997 the Sacramento Symphony officially closed its doors. Directors included Fritz Berens (1956?-1963?), who helped found the Sacramento Youth Symphony,

Harry Newstone Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

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1965–78), who oversaw the move from the Memorial Auditorium (Sacramento), Memorial Auditorium and the

Hiram Johnson High School Hiram W. Johnson High School is a secondary school in the Sacramento City Unified School District, in the Tahoe Park South area of Sacramento, California, United States. Notable alumni * Henry Andrade, hurdler * Bryan Barber, motion picture ...

Auditorium (where most of the concerts were held ) to the new Community Center, Carter Nice (1979–92) and

Geoffrey Simon Geoffrey Philip Simon (born 3 July 1946) is an Australian conductor resident in London. Recordings Geoffrey Simon was born on 3 July 1946 in Adelaide. He was a student of Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Hans Swarowsky and Igor Markevitch, ...

The Sacramento Philharmonic

Established the same year as the Symphony shut down, the new Sacramento Philharmonic, composed almost entirely of the same orchestra members, featured a significantly smaller schedule. The Philharmonic, with the support of

Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the ...

, sought to avoid the unfortunate fate of the defunct Symphony and requested several market studies from national firms to help determine the potential for professional orchestral music in the Sacramento region. With a similar population to Cleveland, which has a world-famous orchestra in the highest calibre, the potential, as determined by the studies, seemed positive. In 2013, the Sacramento Philharmonic merged with the Sacramento Opera to form the Sacramento Region Performing Arts Alliance. A year after the merger, the new group announced it would sit out the 2014–15 season due to financial problems and disagreements between leaders of the two formerly separate organizations. In April 2015, the organization announced that it would reopen for the 2015–16 season. The group promoted its return with a series of surprise flash-mob style performances at locations throughout the city.

References

1999 article at SFCV
{{Authority control Culture of Sacramento, California Musical groups established in 1948 Arts organizations established in 1948 Orchestras based in California