The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra (KSO) was founded in 1921 and is now the third largest professional

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, ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. During the 2005–2006 concert season, the orchestra played for more than 100,000 people in more than 30 concerts. The orchestra's main venue is

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

's Miller Auditorium in

Kalamazoo, MI Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan area in southwestern Michigan ...

History

The orchestra played its first concert under the direction of

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

ist-volunteer Chester Z. Bronson on December 28, 1921 with only 25 musicians.. Due to the efforts of Kalamazoo Symphony Society secretary and KSO Manager Leta G. Snow, by 1928, the orchestra had grown to 75 musicians and its fourth conductor, David Mattern. In 1934, the orchestra named Dr. Herman Felber, Jr. conductor, a post he would continue to fill for 25 years. Dr. Felber oversaw the first auditions for youth soloists. During the 1940s, several outstanding soloists were featured with the orchestra, including

Artur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist."Ar ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

, and Georges Enesco. The 1959 season was the last under Dr. Felber's direction. During the 1960 season the KSO performed under 6 different guest conductors. Ultimately, Gregory Millar became the full-time resident

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

and

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

. His tenure saw the introduction of many long-standing programs, including children's concerts, concerts in other locales in southwest Michigan, and the Art Center recitals by KSO musicians. The first of the popular "Starlight" summer concert series came in 1962; the concerts featured popular musicians like

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

and were held on the roof of the Gilmore parking garage in downtown

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

. Millar's tenure was succeeded by Pierre Hetu in 1968 and Yoshimi Takeda in 1974. Maestro Takeda's 25-year tenure as Music Director and Conductor saw the KSO establish its high level of musicality. Raymond Harvey, was appointed Music Director in 1999. In 2018, Julian Kuerti became the music director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.

References

External links

Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
{{authority control Kalamazoo, Michigan Musical groups established in 1921 Orchestras based in Michigan Tourist attractions in Kalamazoo, Michigan 1921 establishments in Michigan

History

See also

References

External links