The Tulsa Philharmonic was an American

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

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. The orchestra was founded in 1948 by H. Arthur Brown who was principal conductor from 1948 till 1958. The original Tulsa Philharmonic grew out of a small group called the Tulsa Civic Symphony created in 1926-27 by Kurt Berger, a German-born and -educated musician living in Tulsa. Many of the symphony's musicians also played in the pit orchestra for the Tulsa Little Theatre. After its premier concert at the Akdar Theater as the Tulsa Civic Symphony in January 1927, the small orchestra was directed by Berger until 1933, when illness forced him to retire. His daughter, Tosca Berger Kramer, briefly succeeded him. George Baum also directed an orchestra under Works Progress Administration funding in the 1930s and 1940s. The Tulsa Philharmonic played for 53 seasons. Conductors included

Vladimir Golschmann Vladimir Golschmann (16 December 18931 March 1972) was a French and American conductor. Biography Vladimir Golschmann was born in Paris to a Jewish family. He studied violin at the Schola Cantorum in Paris. He was a notable advocate of the m ...

(1958–61), Franco Autori (1961–71),

Skitch Henderson Lyle Russel "Skitch" Henderson (January 27, 1918 – November 1, 2005) was an American pianist, conductor, and composer. His nickname "Skitch" came from his ability to "re-sketch" a song in a different key. Bing Crosby suggested that he sho ...

(1971–74), Thomas Lewis (conductor) (1974–77),

Murry Sidlin Murry Sidlin (Baltimore, United States, 1940), is an American conducting, conductor and professor. Biography Born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1940, Sidlin studied at the Peabody Institute, graduating in 1968 with a Master's degree. Sidlin's first a ...

(1978–80), Joel Lazar (1980–83),

Peter Nero Peter Nero (born Bernard Nierow; May 22, 1934 – July 6, 2023) was an American pianist and pops conductor. He directed the Philly Pops from 1979 to 2013, and earned two Grammy Awards, including the award for Best New Artist in 1962, as well ...

(Pops music director, 1983-1994), Bernard Rubenstein (1984–96), and Kenneth Jean (1997-2001). Financial difficulties plagued the orchestra during the 1980s and 1990s, forcing a reorganization in 1994. The orchestra ceased to exist on September 12, 2002, citing "tenuous financial conditions and the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement with Local 94, American Federation of Musicians, the union representing the Philharmonic's musicians." The financial problems of the orchestra were partially a result of the collapse of

Enron Enron Corporation was an American Energy development, energy, Commodity, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. It was led by Kenneth Lay and developed in 1985 via a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, both re ...

and

Worldcom MCI, Inc. (formerly WorldCom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second-largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. WorldCom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunicatio ...

in 2001, as well as job cuts at

Williams Williams may refer to: People * Williams (surname), a surname English in origin, but popular in Wales, 3rd most common in the United Kingdom * Williams Nwaneri, American football player Places Astronomy * Williams (lunar crater) * Williams ...

, all of which took their toll on Tulsa, and made the Philharmonic unsustainable. After the demise of the orchestra, several of its core musicians banded together to try to form a new professional orchestra in Tulsa. The

Tulsa Symphony Orchestra The Tulsa Symphony is a professional orchestra based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was formed in 2005 by musicians from the Tulsa Philharmonic, which ended in 2002. Tulsa Symphony began performing with other cultural organizations in early 2006, and pre ...

was formed in 2005.Tahlequah Daily Press
, archive cop

References

External links

{{authority control 1948 establishments in Oklahoma 2002 disestablishments in Oklahoma Disbanded American orchestras Culture of Tulsa, Oklahoma Economy of Tulsa, Oklahoma Musical groups established in 1948 Musical groups disestablished in 2002