Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra

The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra is a professional orchestra based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The orchestra's music director is Edvard Tchivzhel (born 1944), a native of Russia, who has completed his final season with the orchestra. The Associate Conductor is Bradley Thachuk, a native of Canada. The orchestra performs mainly in the historic Embassy Theatre and Arts United Center.

History

The orchestra was founded in 1944. It has been part of the city's musical heritage continuously since its debut in October 1944, and dramatically expanded its concert programming in the 1945-1946 season, presenting 14 programs with pianist William Kapell, violinist Yehudi Menuhin and tenor Mario Lanza among the guest artists. Over the years, the Philharmonic has performed with many renowned pop artists, including Benny Goodman, Skitch Henderson, Burt Bacharach, Aretha Franklin, Doc Severinsen, The Smothers Brothers, Henry Mancini, Pete Fountain, and Air Supply.

Prior to Tchivzhel, the orchestra's music director was Ronald Ondrejka, who had previously served as music director of the Monterey Symphony Orchestra (1960-61), assistant conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (1961-63) under Josef Krips, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra. Ondrejka, who frequently programmed American music, was also the head of the conducting program at the University of California at Santa Barbara in the 1970s.

Among other former music directors of the Philharmonic was Igor Buketoff (1914-2001), who made numerous recordings and was known for his educational work. He was particularly known for his performances of Russian music, especially Rachmaninoff, and he contributed to Vox's multi-disc tribute to early American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869). The "New York Times" reported that Buketoff died in New York City on September 7, 2001, at the age of 87.

The Orchestra Today

Today, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic carries on its musical tradition with 480 orchestra and chamber ensemble performances are attended by more than 220,000 people. Since 1980 the orchestra has won five awards for adventuresome programming" from ASCAP, the American Society of composers, Authors and Publishers. In addition, its Education Programs are created to inspire the love of classical music in people of all ages. The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus, directed by Robert Nance, participates in several concerts each year.

The current season runs from September through May. Concerts are divided into several categories:

*Masterworks Series - devoted to major orchestral works, sometimes with instrumental and/or vocal soloists, usually at the Embassy Centre.

*Spectrum Series - devoted to works for chamber orchestra, sometimes with soloists drawn from orchestra principals, usually held at the Arts United Center, featuring narration by the conductor.

*Pops Concerts - devoted to light works, often featuring guest soloists and/or conductors, usually held at the Embassy Centre.

*"Unplugged" Concerts - very informal, "bargain" concerts with the musicians informally dressed, usually held at the Arts United Center, with narration by the conductor.

*Freimann Series - chamber music concerts featuring principal players of the Philharmonic, held in various venues.

In addition, the Philharmonic's chamber orchestra has performed a few concerts during the summer, conducted by either Edvard Tchivzhel or Bradley Thachuk. Members of the orchestra have also participated in the "Summer Symphony" at the Foellinger Theatre in Franke Park, led by principal trombonist David Cooke.

Broadcasts and Recordings

Edvard Tchivzhel and the Philharmonic recorded a commercial CD at the Honeywell Center in Wabash, which includes Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 6" and Richard Strauss' symphonic poem "Don Juan". For many years, Philharmonic concerts were taped for broadcast on WBNI.

Tchivzhel Leaves

On January 17, 2007, the "Fort Wayne Journal Gazette" reported that Edvard Tchivzhel, music director of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, would step down when his contract expired in June 2008.

Tchivzhel, born in Leningrad, Russia (now St. Petersburg), in 1944, came to Fort Wayne in August 1993 after serving as assistant director of the Leningrad Philharmonic (now called the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra) under Yevgeny Mravinsky.

Tchivzhel is also artistic director of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina. The Philharmonic said a search committee was formed to find a new music director. The committee chose the finalists who will appear with the orchestra during the 2008-09 season.

For more information see the online article: [http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/16478993.htm/ fortwayne.com]

2007-08 Season

The 2007-08 season began on September 15, 2007, at the Embassy Theatre when Tchivzhel conducted Stravinsky's "Petrouchka" (1947 version with the optional concert ending) and Gershwin's "An American in Paris" and "Concerto in F". The season concluded on May 10, 2008, with Tchivzhel conducting Mahler's second symphony.

Music Director Finalists

The Fort Wayne Philharmonic announced on January 15, 2008, that it has selected eight finalists who will be considered for the new music director. The eight conductors, drawn from the international concert scene, were invited to conduct concerts in Fort Wayne during the 2008-09 season. Philharmonic management and the board of directors will invite audience response as the conductors appear during the coming season, then select the new director, who will likely take over in the 2009-10 season. [WBOI newscast, January 15, 2008]

The finalists selected are:

*Hélène Bouchez (born in Lyon, France in 1972), has conducted across Europe and Asia.

*David In-Jae Cho (born in Seoul, Korea in 1973), assistant conductor with the Utah Symphony Orchestra and Utah Opera.

*Andrew Constantine (born in England in 1960), music director of the Reading Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania.

*Andrew Grams (born in Maryland in 1976), resident conductor of the Florida Symphony Orchestra.

*Daniel Meyer (born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1971), music director at the Erie Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania and the Asheville Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina.

*Tito Muñoz (born in New York City in 1983), assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra.

*Danail Rachev (born in Shumen, Bulgaria in 1970), assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

*Gregory Vajda (born in Budapest, Hungary in 1973), resident conductor of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.

The Philharmonic announced that each of the candidates would visit Fort Wayne for two concerts during the 2008-09 season. Each conductor would lead one concert with the full orchestra and one with the chamber orchestra. A final decision is expected to be made in summer of 2009. ["Fort Wayne Journal Gazette", January 15, 2008] In addition, famed conductor and violinist Jaime Laredo was invited to guest conduct the full orchestra and the chamber orchestra. The Philharmonic's current associate conductor, Bradley Thachuk, will also conduct during the 2008-09 season.

2008-09 Season

The Masterworks Series for the 2008-09 season began before a near-capacity crowd at the Embassy Theatre on September 20 with Tito Muñoz conducting Glinka's "Russlan and Ludmilla" overture, Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2" (Yuja Wang, pianist), and Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra." A spokesman for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic told the audience that selected concerts during the season, including the opening performance, will be taped for broadcast on WBNI.

Subsequent Masterworks concerts (all in the Embassy Theatre) announced were:

*October 11 - David In-Jae Cho - Dvorak's "Carnival Overture", Sibelius' "Violin Concerto" (Jennifer Koh, violinist), Beethoven's "Symphony No. 3".

*November 8 - Hélène Bouchez - Beethoven's "Coriolan Overture", Richard Strauss' "Don Quixote" (Hikaru Tamiki, cellist; Derek Reeves, violist), Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun", Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite".

*November 22 - Daniel Meyer - Bernstein's "On the Town: Three Dance Episodes", Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 4" (Benjamin Hochman, pianist), Saint-Saens' "Symphony No. 3".

*January 24, 2009 - Andrew Grams - Brahms' Hungarian Dances, Dvorak's "Violin Concerto" (Soovin Kim, violinist), Brahms' "Symphony No. 3".

*February 28 - Gregory Vajda - Schubert's "Symphony No. 8", Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" (Allen Guelzo, narrator), Sibelius' "Symphony No. 5".

*March 14 - Danail Rachev - Ravel's "Mother Goose Suite", Bartok's "Piano Concerto No. 3" (Alon Goldstein, pianist), Schumann's "Symphony No. 3".

*April 18 - Jaime Laredo - Corigliano's "Voyage for Strings", Shostakovich' "Cello Concerto No. 1" (Sharon Robinson, cellist), Prokofiev's "Symphony No. 5".

*May 9 - Andrew Constantine - Rachmaninoff's "Symphonic Dances", Orff's "Carmina Burana".

The Spectrum Series concerts (featuring the chamber orchestra) announced were: September 27-28 - David In-Jae Cho, October 25-26 - Danail Rachev, December 19 - Hélène Bouchez, January 31-February 1, 2009 - Daniel Meyer, February 21-22 - Jaime Laredo, March 28-29 - Bradley Thachuk (with the Fort Wayne Ballet in an adaptation of Mendelssohn's incidental music to "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), May 2-3 - Andrew Constantine.

Pops concerts announced were: October 3 - Ben Folds, October 4 - Michael Feinstein, November 15 - "The Beat Goes On", December 12-13, 20 - Holiday Pops, February 14, 2009 - A Broadway Valentine's Day featuring Linda Eder, March 7 - "An Evening of Jazz with Byron Stripling and the Voices of Unity Choir", April 24-25 - "A Tribute to John Williams". [ [http://fortwaynephilharmonic.com Fort Wayne Philharmonic ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.fortwaynephilharmonic.com/ Fort Wayne Philharmonic]
* [http://www.fwembassytheatre.org/home.htm The Historic Embassy Theatre]

ources

*Fort Wayne Philharmonic website
*Fort Wayne Philharmonic brochures
*Eyewitness accounts by Robert E. Nylund
*WBNI broadcasts; listen to WBNI online [http://publicbroadcasting.net/niprfm/ppr/index.shtml]