The Anchorage Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a professional 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: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

located in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, US. Randall Craig Fleischer was the music director until his death in 2020. After Fleischer's death during the Covid-19 pandemic, Elizabeth Schulze served as artistic advisor and chief conductor while the ASO searched for a new music director. In 2022, Schulze was named as the music director and conductor of the orchestra, and embarked on her first official season in that position. Linn Weeda is the assistant director and conductor. The Anchorage Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1946, more than a decade before Alaska became a state, by a consortium of like-minded musicians looking for a musical outlet. Their first program collaborated with the Anchorage Little Theatre for a production of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

' ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

''. From their original size of 17, the ASO grew through the 1950s, hiring Peter Britch as conductor, and increasing to 32 members. Anchorage, however, continued to grow with the development of the City of Anchorage as the North Slope oil fields grew and with the continued military presence of Elmendorf Air Force Base, the ASO by the 1980s crossed the threshold as a semi-professional ensemble. Today the organization boasts of an endowment, a board of directors, and 80 audition-entranced musicians in its ranks. In 2001, the symphony garnered the Mayor's Arts Award for an Outstanding Arts Organization and the Governor's Arts Award for an Outstanding Arts Organization. The Anchorage Symphony performs in the

Alaska Center for the Performing Arts The Alaska Center for the Performing Arts is a performance venue in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. Opened in 1988, it hosts over 200,000 patrons annually, and consists of three theaters: * Evangeline Atwood Concert Hall, with 2,000 seats, is designed ...

in downtown Anchorage. Music educator Lorene Harrison worked with the ASO among other area arts organizations.

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* American symphony orchestras Musical groups established in 1946 Tourist attractions in Anchorage, Alaska 1946 establishments in Alaska Orchestras based in Alaska Video game musicians Native American musical groups Musical groups from Anchorage, Alaska {{US-orchestra-stub

See also

References

External links