The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood.

Jader Bignamini Jader Bignamini (born 1976 in Crema, Lombardy, Italy) is an Italian conductor and clarinetist. As a child, Bignamini became interested in the clarinet. He formally studied music at the Conservatorio Nicolini Piacenza. He joined the Orchestra Si ...

is the current music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Leonard Slatkin, the previous music director, is the orchestra's current music director laureate.

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...

, music director from 1990 to 2005, is the orchestra's current music director emeritus.

History

Founding and growth

The DSO performed the first concert of its first subscription season at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 19, 1887 at the

Detroit Opera House The Detroit Opera House is an ornate opera house located at 1526 Broadway Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Grand Circus Park Historic District. The 2,700-seat venue is the home of productions of the Detroit Opera and a variety of ...

. The conductor was Rudolph Speil. He was succeeded in subsequent seasons by a variety of conductors until 1900 when Hugo Kalsow was appointed and served until the orchestra ceased operations in 1910. The Detroit Symphony resumed operations in 1914 when ten Detroit society women each contributed $100 to the organization and pledged to find 100 additional subscribers. They soon hired a music director, Weston Gales, a 27-year-old church organist from Boston, who led the first performance of the reconstituted orchestra on February 26, 1914, again at the old Detroit Opera House. The appointment of the Russian pianist

Ossip Gabrilowitsch Ossip Salomonovich Gabrilowitsch (Осип Сoломонович Габрилович, ''Osip Solomonovich Gabrilovich''; he used the German transliteration ''Gabrilowitsch'' in the West) (14 September 1936) was a Russian-born American pianist, ...

as music director in 1918 brought instant status to the new orchestra. A friend of composers Gustav Mahler and Sergei Rachmaninoff, Gabrilowitsch demanded that a new auditorium be built as a condition of his accepting the position. Orchestra Hall was constructed in 1919 in four months and twenty-three days. Under Gabrilowitsch, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra quickly became one of the most prominent orchestras in the country, performing with the leading artists of the day. In 1922, the orchestra gave the world's first radio broadcast of a symphony orchestra concert with Gabrilowitsch conducting and guest artist

Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...

at the piano. Gabrilowitsch was music director until his death in 1936. From 1934 to 1942, the orchestra performed for millions across the country as the official orchestra of '' The Ford Sunday Evening Hour'' (later the Ford Symphony Hour) national radio show. In 1939, three years after Gabrilowitsch's death, the orchestra moved from Orchestra Hall to the Masonic Temple Theatre due to major financial problems caused by the Great Depression. In the 1940s, the orchestra disbanded twice and moved to three different performing venues. In 1946, the orchestra moved to the Wilson Theater which was renamed Music Hall. In 1956, the orchestra moved to

Ford Auditorium Ford Auditorium was a 2,920-seat auditorium in Detroit, Michigan built in 1955 and opened in 1956. Located on the Detroit riverfront, it served as a home to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) for more than 33 years and was an integral part of th ...

on the waterfront of the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

, where it remained for the next 33 years. The orchestra once again enjoyed national prestige under music director

Paul Paray Paul Marie-Adolphe Charles Paray () (24 May 1886 – 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. He was the resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1952 until 1963. Early life and education Paul Paray was ...

, winning numerous awards for its 70 recordings on the Mercury label. Paray was followed by noted music directors

Sixten Ehrling Evert Sixten Ehrling (3 April 1918 – 13 February 2005) was a Swedish conductor and pianist who, during a long career, served as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera and the principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a ...

, Aldo Ceccato,

Antal Doráti Antal Doráti (, , ; 9 April 1906 – 13 November 1988) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943. Biography Antal Doráti was born in Budapest, where his father Alexander Doráti was a vi ...

, and

Günther Herbig Günther Herbig (born 30 November 1931) is a German conductor. Born in Ústí nad Labem, Czechoslovakia, Herbig studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy in Weimar in 1951 (then in East Germany) with Hermann Abendroth. He later was a student ...

. In popular music, members of the orchestra provided the recorded string accompaniments on many of Motown Records's classic hits of the 1960s, usually under the direction of the orchestra's

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 ...

of the time,

Gordon Staples Gordon Staples was an American violinist and past concertmaster for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He was known for his work as a leader and conductor of the string section on recording sessions for Motown Records during their heyday in the 1 ...

. Two Motown albums featured the strings with the Motown rhythm section the

Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

. The combined ensemble was known as the

San Remo Golden Strings The San Remo Golden Strings were a studio group from Detroit, Michigan. A number of its members also played in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, while others were members of the Motown backing band, The Funk Brothers. Their albums were released o ...

and enjoyed two hit singles: "Hungry for Love" (#3 Billboard Adult Contemporary) and "I'm Satisfied" (#89 U.S. Pop). In 1966, members of the orchestra were seen recording in the Motown studio on West Grand Boulevard with

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successf ...

for the ABC TV documentary "Anatomy of Pop: The Music Explosion". The song they perform is the hit "

My World Is Empty Without You "My World Is Empty Without You" is a 1965 song recorded and released as a single by the Supremes for the Motown label. Overview Written and produced by Motown's main production team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song's fast tempo accompanies ...

" by Holland, Dozier, and Holland. There were two full albums released by the group: "Hungry for Love" (1967) and "Swing" (1968) both on the Gordy label (a subsidiary of Motown). In 1970, the DSO instituted the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra as a training group, under Paul Freeman.

The Neeme Järvi era

In 1989, following a 20-year rescue and restoration effort, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra returned to Orchestra Hall. Further renovations to the hall were completed in 2003, including a $60 million addition and a recital hall and education wing, the Max M. Fisher Music Center. A fine arts high school, the

Detroit School of Arts The Detroit School of Arts (DSA), originally known as the Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts, is a blue ribbon high school located in Midtown, Detroit, Midtown Detroit, Michigan.

, was added to the DSO campus in 2004.

began his music directorship in 1990, and served through 2005, the second-longest in the orchestra's history. Järvi now has the title of music director emeritus with the orchestra. Following Järvi's departure, the DSO named

Peter Oundjian Peter Oundjian (born 21 December 1955) is a Canadian-American violinist and conductor. Early life Born in Toronto, Ontario, as the youngest of five children from an Armenian father and English mother, Oundjian also claims Scottish ancestry throu ...

as its principal guest conductor and artistic advisor for a 2-year period, from 2006 to 2008.

Post-Neeme Järvi

After a five-year search, the DSO announced on October 7, 2007, the appointment of

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...

as its twelfth music director. In February 2010, the orchestra announced the extension of Slatkin's contract as DSO music director through the 2012–2013 season. Slatkin took a salary reduction to help relieve the orchestra's financial difficulties. In December 2014, the DSO announced an extension of Slatkin's contract as music director through the 2017–2018 season. With the 2018–2019 season, Slatkin took the title of music director laureate, the first former DSO music director to be granted that title.

2010–2011 DSO musicians strike and aftermath

A labor dispute prompted DSO musicians to strike on October 4, 2010. On February 19, 2011, after the musicians rejected a final offer made on February 15, 2011, DSO management announced it would suspend the remainder of the 2010–2011 concert season. Following a six-month strike, the musicians and management reached an agreement on April 3, 2011. Concerts resumed April 9, 2011, with a weekend of free concerts. The DSO's first weekend back, tickets for all concerts were priced at $20. The DSO instituted similar "patron-minded pricing" for the 2011–12 season with most seats to all classical concerts priced at $15 or $25. On the anniversary of the strike a member of the musicians' negotiating committee, violinist Marian Tanau, spoke to the ''

World Socialist Web Site The World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) is the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). It describes itself as an "online newspaper of the international Trotskyist movement". The WSWS publishes articles and analys ...

'' about the new conditions. He remarked on the loss of significant members of the orchestra and the prevalence of substitute musicians, leading to a slight decline in quality. Tanau claimed that the 30% wage cut and loss of prestige meant that the DSO could no longer attract the "best of the best". Since the DSO returned to the stage in April 2011, the orchestra reorganised its activities under the umbrella term of 'OneDSO', with new work in such areas as community engagement and digital accessibility. The Neighborhood Series attracted new subscribers for the orchestra in venues around metro Detroit, helping to increase total subscription growth of nearly 25% from 2011 to 2014.

Recent history

In 2013, the DSO returned to Carnegie Hall for the first time in 17 years to perform in the Spring for Music Festival. In January 2014, the DSO announced that board, musicians, and management agreed to a new three-year contract eight months before the current one expired. In June 2018,

first guest-conducted the DSO, as an emergency substitute for Slatkin. Bignamini returned in October 2019 for a further guest-conducting engagement with the orchestra. In January 2020, the DSO announced the appointment of Bignamini as its next music director, effective with the 2020–2021 season, with an initial contract of 6 seasons. In April 2021, the orchestra announced that Anne Parsons is to retire as its president and chief executive officer in the autumn of 2022. Having served from 2004 until December 2021, Parsons died on 28 March, 2022.

Media activities

On April 10, 2011, the DSO launched 'Live from Orchestra Hall', the first free webcast series by an orchestra. During classical weekends, DSO concerts are streamed live to a worldwide audience. On October 9, 2010, the DSO expanded the series to mobile devices through the DSO to Go mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Live from Orchestra Hall has been viewed by more than 550,000 viewers in over 100 countries since its inception. On October 7, 2012, the DSO webcast its first Pops concert, 'Cirque de la Symphonie', which was also projected onto the building for the general public for the orchestra's first ever, larger-than-life "MaxCast". The symphony has produced many recordings on the Victor, London, Decca, Mercury, RCA, Chandos and DSO labels. The DSO recording of Igor Stravinsky's ''

The Rite of Spring , image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg , image_size = 350px , caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of ' , composer = Igor Stravinsky , based_on ...

'' was the first CD to win the Grand Prix du Disque award. The DSO has recently recorded for the

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

label, including music of

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

, and John Williams. In early 2010, George Blood Audio and Video f Philadelphiabegan transferring recordings, dating back to the 1959–1960 concert season, to the digital medium.

Music directors

* Weston Gales (1914–1917) *

(1918–1936) *

Franco Ghione Franco Ghione (1886–1964) was an Italian conductor and violinist. He graduated from the Parma Conservatory and became a violinist for the Parma Theatre and the Augusteo in Rome. He began a conducting career in 1913 and conducted in many o ...

(1936–1940) * Victor Kolar (1940–1942) * Karl Krueger (1944–1949) *

(1951–1962) *

(1963–1973) * Aldo Ceccato (1973–1977) *

(1977–1981) *

(1984–1990) *

(1990–2005) *

(2008–2018) *

(2020–present)

References

Sources

* Gavrilovich, Peter and Bill McGraw. ''The Detroit Almanac'', Detroit Free Press (2000, ). * Heiles, Ann Mischakoff, ''America's Concertmasters (Detroit Monographs in Musicology)''. Harmonie Park (2007, ). * Woodford, Arthur M., ''This is Detroit 1701–2001''. Wayne State University Press (2001, ).

External links

Official website of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1914 Culture of Detroit Musical groups from Detroit Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras 1914 establishments in Michigan Orchestras based in Michigan Grand Prix du Disque winners Musical groups established in 1887 Musical groups disestablished in 1910 1887 establishments in Michigan 1910 disestablishments in Michigan Symphony orchestras