| Discovery Ensemble (DE) | |
|---|---|
| Chamber orchestra | |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Concert hall | |
| Principal conductor | Courtney Lewis |
Discovery Ensemble was a Boston-based chamber orchestra [1] founded by Music Director Courtney Lewis and Artistic Director David St. George. The orchestra, made up of young professionals from the Boston area, gave its inaugural concert in October 2008. [2] It disappeared from the Boston music scene after an announcement cancelling the already advertised 2014 season. [3]
Discovery Ensemble had two missions. It was a chamber orchestra that performed to local acclaim in the Boston Globe [4] [5] and the Boston Phoenix. [6] [7] [8] [9] Concerts took place at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [10] [11]
Discovery Ensemble's second mission was education. The orchestra presented four Discovery Programs per year, each consisting of two in-school workshops [12] and a matinee concert for children from local schools. [13] The schools' concerts took place at Strand Theatre in Dorchester, Massachusetts. [14]
Discovery Ensemble played live regularly on WGBH Radio and was featured as Critics' Choice on NPR. [15] [16] In December 2009, Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Lloyd Schwartz of the Boston Phoenix named Discovery Ensemble Boston's "Best Kept Secret". [17]
The orchestra played its first concert in October 2008 in the Strand Theatre, Dorchester with Ginastera's Variaciones concertantes, Stravinsky's Danses concertantes, and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. [2] [14] [18]
The orchestra was founded because directors Courtney Lewis and David St. George saw the possibility, given the abundance of young professional musicians in Boston, of forming and training a large (40 players) chamber orchestra that could perform at the highest international level.
Discovery Ensemble was particularly associated with schools and community centers in Dorchester. [13]