The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, the BSO performs most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at Tanglewood.
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, since 1979.
The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart.
Seiji Ozawa was a Japanese conductor known internationally for his work as music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and especially the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), where he served from 1973 for 29 years. After conducting the Vienna New Year's Concert in 2002, he was director of the Vienna State Opera until 2010. In Japan, he founded the Saito Kinen Orchestra in 1984, their festival in 1992, and the Tokyo Opera Nomori in 2005.
The Tanglewood Festival Chorus, directed by James Burton, is a chorus which performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops in major choral works. The Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC) was organized in the spring of 1970, when founding conductor John Oliver became director of vocal and choral activities at the Tanglewood Music Center, the summer home of the BSO. Originally formed for performances at the BSO's summer home at the behest of the BSO's conductor designate Seiji Ozawa, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus is the official chorus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops Orchestra year-round, performing in Boston, New York and Tanglewood.
Tanglewood is a music venue and festival in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the Tanglewood Music Center, Tanglewood Learning Center, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. Besides classical music, Tanglewood hosts the Festival of Contemporary Music, jazz and popular artists, concerts, and frequent appearances by James Taylor, John Williams, and the Boston Pops.
The Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) is a summer music training program for students age 10 to 20 in Lenox, Massachusetts, under the auspices of the Boston University College of Fine Arts.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it began regular performances at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda.
The Florida Symphony Youth Orchestras (FSYO) is a music education program in Central Florida, consisting of six primary ensembles with nearly 300 student musicians. FSYO is the oldest operating youth symphony in the state of Florida and is believed to be the 3rd oldest in the southeastern United States. It was originally affiliated with the now-defunct Florida Symphony Orchestra.
Marin Alsop is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and chief conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival, and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. She was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008 and to the American Philosophical Society in 2020.
The Bilkent Symphony Orchestra is a major symphony orchestra of Turkey located in Bilkent, Ankara. It was founded in 1993 by Bilkent University. Since 1994 the orchestra is based at the Bilkent Concert Hall. The BSO is UNICEF Turkey Goodwill Ambassador since 2009.
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930 by cellist Hans Kindler, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. They were also the official orchestra of the annual National Memorial Day Concert and A Capitol Fourth celebrations. The NSO provides an education program that aims to expose its audiences to classical music. They also provide teaching resources to families and teachers. The NSO's educational programs include scholarships programs and opportunities for musically talented high school students who want to pursue a career in orchestral music.
Brevard Music Center is a classical music venue and festival held annually located in Brevard, North Carolina. It has been the home to their international summer institute and festival that enrolls about four hundred students, age fourteen and older, who participate in orchestra and other large ensembles, an opera program, play chamber music, study composition, and take private lessons. A faculty of sixty is drawn from orchestras, conservatories, and universities. The season runs from the last week of June through the first week of August. Other than classical music, Brevard Music Center hosts contemporary music, bluegrass and popular artists, concerts, and frequent appearances by Keith Lockhart, Ken Lam, and a variety of soloists. With an annual budget of more than three million dollars, the Center contributes substantially to the economy of western North Carolina.
The Alabama Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra based in Birmingham, Alabama. The orchestra's resident and principal conductor is Christopher Confessore. The Orchestra was first formed in April 1921 but had to close because of financial issues in 1993. It re-opened in 1997 after substantial fundraising.
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglewood Music Festival, an outdoor concert series and the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO).
The Lancaster Symphony Orchestra is a local orchestra in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It performs year-round at the city's historical Fulton Opera House and consists of many highly talented musicians from around the area. It is a member of the American Symphony Orchestra League and is a class 5 orchestra with a budget that exceeds $1 million per year.
The New West Symphony is a regional professional symphony orchestra serving the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1995. The orchestra's players are professional musicians drawn from the rich pool of classical musicians in the Los Angeles region, many of whom work as session players for film, television and audio recording in the entertainment industry, and play for other area orchestras as well. The New West Symphony is a 501c3 charity governed by a 30-member board of directors.
The Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is a symphony orchestra in the New York City metropolitan area.
Orchestra Iowa is Iowa's premier American symphony orchestra based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The current music director and conductor is Timothy Hankewich. Established in 1923 as the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra has 68 professional musicians and a full season of over 180 performances, including a fine arts series, a chamber series, a popular series, and performances with the Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Ballet Quad Cities. The orchestra principally performs at the Paramount Theatre located in downtown Cedar Rapids. They also perform regular concerts at Iowa City West High School. The chamber series is performed at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts in Coralville, Iowa. The orchestra showcases its artistic excellence each season through an accomplished array of classical, ballet, opera, popular and chamber performances, in addition to extensive community education and involvement.
The Chicago Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois, governed by the Chicago Philharmonic Society. Founded in 1988 by principals of the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago, it is a musician-governed, non-profit organization consisting of nearly 200 classical music performers from the Chicago area. Since 2013, the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor has been Scott Speck.