The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra is an American

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, ...

based in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

. Its home is the Orpheum Theater.

History

The Sioux City Symphony Orchestra and The Sioux City Municipal Band were each formed in the early 1930s under the guidance and direction of Leo Kucinski. Under Kucinski's leadership, the orchestra gradually developed into a highly respected, paid-professional Class B civic orchestra with a regular performing season. The orchestra originally performed in the

Sioux City Municipal Auditorium The Sioux City Municipal Auditorium, known as the Long Lines Family Recreation Center or Long Lines Auditorium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose Building, facility in Sioux City, Iowa. The fifth in a line of major indoor venues built i ...

, but in 2001 moved to the restored historic Orpheum Theater. The Municipal Band, with close kinship to the orchestra, is also a paid-professional group that traces its origins to The Monahan Post 64 Band of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

, in the 1920s. The Monahan Post Band became world-famous when it was selected as the "official" band of the American Legion in the mid-1920s. From its founding until the early 1930s, The Monahan Post Band made several tours that included concert appearances in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The home of the Municipal Band is the city band shell in Grandview Park. Sioux City's ability to produce highly gifted musicians for fine music of all styles can be attributed to its citizens' very strong and longstanding commitment to and financial investment in music education within the public and private school systems. In the 1930s, Kucinski worked closely with Superintendent of Schools M.G. Clark to create the foundation for its public school music program. Additionally, Morningside College has long been home to a vital and energetic music department, which has served to contribute to the pool of fine musicians and music educators in Sioux City. Sioux City has an All-City Orchestra whose members are elementary grade students who participate by audition, and the Siouxland Youth Symphony, whose players are selected by competitive auditions from the junior schools and high schools in the area. After Kucinski, other music directors of the orchestra have included Thomas Lewis, Stephen Rogers Radcliffe and Xian Zhang. Xian Zhang had originally been contracted to the orchestra for 3 years, but resigned after 2 years because of her schedule demands. In March 2009, the orchestra announced the appointment of Ryan Haskins as its next music director, as of 1 July 2009.

Music Directors

* Leo Kucinski (1925-1977) * Thomas Lewis (1977- ) * Stephen Rogers Radcliffe (1995-2004) * Xian Zhang (2005-2007) * JungHo Kim (2008) * Ryan Haskins (2009–present)

References

External links

History of the orchestra from the Sioux City Symphony page

{{authority control American symphony orchestras Wikipedia requested audio of orchestras Musical groups established in 1925 Orchestras based in Iowa Tourist attractions in Sioux City, Iowa