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The Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra (GGFSO) is a community orchestra based in Grand Forks, North Dakota that began operation in 1908. One of eighteen American orchestras to have surpassed their centennial year, the symphony employs local and regional musicians in performances of classical and modern symphonic music.
Fourteen conductors have held the post of Music Director during the life of the symphony:
Famed composers brought their batons to Grand Forks: Ernst von Dohnanyi conducted in 1955 and Gunther Schuller in 1978. Yehudi Menuhin, the most notable soloist to appear in the symphony's history, performed in 1962.[ citation needed ]
Recent events with the symphony have included a two-year residency from 2003 to 2005 by the Chiara String Quartet; participation in 2009 with a consortium of American orchestras presenting the premiere of Joseph Schwantner's Chasing Light, made possible through a grant from Ford Motor Company; celebrating the 100th anniversary season (one of 18 American orchestras to achieve that milepost) with a season-opening Beethoven 9 under the baton of Music Director James Hannon; presenting the North American premiere of the "Temporal Variations for Oboe and Strings" by Benjamin Britten, featuring Philip McKenzie as soloist, conducted by Music Director Alexander Platt; and another North American premiere of Britten, "Movements of a Clarinet Concerto", written for Benny Goodman but not completed by the composer. That performance on October 1, 2011, was by the orchestra's principal clarinetist, Douglas Monroe, conducted by Platt. [ citation needed ]
The orchestra maintains close ties with arts patrons, the business community, local educators, and the University of North Dakota for its supporters, its audience, and its musicians.[ citation needed ]
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The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., and globally known as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, it is one of the leading American orchestras popularly called the "Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was especially noted for his free-hand conducting style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from the orchestras he directed.
Serge Koussevitzky was a Russian and American conductor, composer, and double-bassist, known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949.
Frederick Stock was a German conductor and composer, most famous for his 37-year tenure as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Walter Johannes Damrosch was a Prussian-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Aaron Copland's Symphony for Organ and Orchestra, George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F and An American in Paris, and Jean Sibelius' Tapiola. Damrosch was also instrumental in the founding of Carnegie Hall. He also conducted the first performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the composer himself as soloist.
Spring Symphony is a choral symphony by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 44. The work is scored for soprano, alto and tenor soloists, mixed choir, boys' choir and orchestra. Britten used texts of several poems related to spring, mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries and also one by W. H. Auden. Britten dedicated the work to Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The work received its premiere in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam on 14 July 1949 as part of the Holland Festival
Diversions for Piano Left Hand and Orchestra, Op. 21, is a concertante music composition by Benjamin Britten.
Rudolph Ganz was a Swiss-born American pianist, conductor, composer, and music educator.
Albert Frederic Stoessel was an American composer, violinist and conductor.
Eugene Linden was an American conductor. He conducted the first public performance of the Tacoma Philharmonic Orchestra in March 1934 and directed the Seattle Symphony from 1948 to 1950. He is also credited as founder of the now defunct Northwest Grand Opera Company.
Antonio Brosa was a Spanish violinist, mostly active in the UK.
Manny Laureano is an American trumpet player and conductor.
Albert Meredith Davies CBE was a British conductor, renowned for his advocacy of English music by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Max Bendix was an American concert violinist, conductor, and teacher. He was the first concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and was also the concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. Bendix wrote several works for orchestra and some incidental music as well as songs. In 1899, the Musical Courier called Bendix "the finest American violinist".
Jussi Jalas was a Finnish conductor and composer.
Konstantin Saradzhev was an Armenian conductor and violinist. He was an advocate of new Russian music, and conducted a number of premieres of works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Modest Mussorgsky, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Aram Khachaturian. His son Konstantin Konstantinovich Saradzhev was a noted bell ringer and musical theorist.
Alexander Platt is an American symphony orchestra conductor and music director. He is currently the music director for Maverick Concerts, the Wisconsin Philharmonic, and the Waukegan and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras.
Thomas Edward Clark was an English conductor and music producer for the BBC. Through his positions in leading new music organizations and his wide-ranging contacts with British and European composers, he had a major impact on making contemporary classical music available to the British public for over 30 years. He was a leading figure in the BBC's Concerts of Contemporary Music between 1926 and 1939, and he played a significant role in the founding and early development of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He held prominent positions in the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) from its inception in 1922, and was its president from 1947 to 1952.
The Beijing Music Festival (BMF) is an annual music festival held in Beijing which according to the Chinese Ministry of Culture has become one of the most well-known musical events in the world, drawing international attention. According to Chinaculture.org the festival presents about 30 concerts in October every year offering a wide variety of classical and jazz music including opera, orchestral, chamber, solo, and choral concerts. BMF also gives prominence to music education and community engagement offering free children's concerts and students' concerts, as well as master classes which draw about 6,000 music students, teachers, and spectators. It prides itself in presenting both Western and Chinese music alike.
László Istvan Heltay was a Hungarian-born British conductor and choral director. Heltay is best known for contributing to the establishment of the Brighton Festival Chorus, the Chorus of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Schola Cantorum of Oxford. He was described as: