The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is one of the leading American orchestras popularly referred to as the "Big Five". The Philharmonic's home is David Geffen Hall, located in New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
The Berlin Philharmonic is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
Claudio Abbado was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera, founder and director of Lucerne Festival Orchestra, founder and director of Mahler Chamber Orchestra, founding Artistic Director of Orchestra Mozart and music director of European Union Youth Orchestra.
Midori Goto, who performs under the mononym Midori, is a Japanese-born American violinist. She made her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 11 as a surprise guest soloist at the New Year's Eve Gala in 1982. In 1986 her performance at the Tanglewood Music Festival with Leonard Bernstein conducting his own composition made the front-page headlines in The New York Times. Midori became a celebrated child prodigy, and one of the world's preeminent violinists as an adult.
Leon Fleisher was an American classical pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He was one of the most renowned pianists and pedagogues in the world. Music correspondent Elijah Ho called him "one of the most refined and transcendent musicians the United States has ever produced".
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra located in Buffalo, New York led by Music Director JoAnn Falletta. Its primary performing venue is Kleinhans Music Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Each season it presents over 120 classical series, pops, rock, youth, and family concerts. During the summer months, the orchestra performs at parks and outdoor venues across Western New York.
The Oslo Philharmonic (Oslo-Filharmonien) is a Norwegian symphony orchestra based in Oslo, Norway. The orchestra traces its roots to the Philharmonic Society founded in 1847 and the Christiania Musical Association co-founded by Edvard Grieg in 1871, and was established in its current form in 1919. Since 1977, it has had its home in the Oslo Concert Hall. The orchestra gives an average of sixty to seventy symphonic concerts annually, the majority of which are broadcast nationally on the radio. The Oslo Philharmonic entered into a close collaboration with the newly established national broadcasting company, the NRK, in 1934. Its current chief conductor is Klaus Mäkelä.
The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is a Norwegian orchestra based in Bergen. Its principal concert venue is the Grieg Hall.
The Richmond Symphony is based in Richmond, Virginia and is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia and one of the nation's leading regional orchestras. The organization includes a full-time orchestra with more than 70 musicians, the Richmond Symphony Chorus with 150 volunteer members, and the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra programs with more than 260 student participants. Each season, approximately 200,000 community members enjoy live concerts and radio broadcasts by the Richmond Symphony, and 55,000 students and teachers participate in the Symphony's educational outreach programs.
The Florida Orchestra is an American orchestra based in the tri-city area of Tampa, Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Florida. It was founded as the Florida Gulf Coast Symphony upon the 1968 merger of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Tampa Philharmonic. The present name was adopted in 1984.
James Tocco is an American concert pianist. He is the youngest of thirteen children born to Vincenzo and Rose Tocco, both Sicilian immigrants.
The San Antonio Symphony was a full-time professional symphony orchestra based in San Antonio, Texas. Its season ran from late September to early June. Sebastian Lang-Lessing, its music director from 2010 to 2020, was the last to serve in that capacity. The orchestra was a resident organization of the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio. In August 2022, the orchestra's musicians reformed as the San Antonio Philharmonic, a name first used in 1914, and announced a ten-concert classical-music series for the 2022–23 season to be given at First Baptist Church of San Antonio, 100 yards from Tobin Center.
Oscar Ravina, born in Warsaw, Poland, was a violinist, violin teacher and concertmaster based in New York, who has had a prolific career as a performer as well as being a current professor emeritus at Montclair State University, where a talent grant in his name is regularly given to outstanding full-time freshmen studying string instruments.
Edvard Tchivzhel is a Russian-born conductor and music director of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Greenville, South Carolina.
The Gamer Symphony Orchestra at the University of Maryland is a student-run symphony orchestra and chorus at the University of Maryland. The orchestra is the first collegiate ensemble to draw its repertoire exclusively from the music of video games. Most of GSO's members are non-music majors The orchestra holds a free concert every semester during the academic year and yearly charity fundraisers that benefit Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Huw Edwards is a Welsh conductor. Edwards' conducting career began at age seventeen when he became music director of the Maidstone Opera Company in England. He later attended the University of Surrey, where he conducted the college orchestra along with an ensemble that he formed himself. At age twenty-three, he won a conducting competition which sent him to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He then held a lecturer position at Northwestern University in Chicago, where he was also a doctoral candidate. Edwards was conductor and music director of the Portland Youth Philharmonic from 1995 to 2002 followed by the Seattle Youth Symphony from 2002 to 2005. He served as music director of the Portland Columbia Symphony from 2000 to 2012 and with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra from 2003 to 2020.
The Colorado Springs Philharmonic is a professional orchestra based in Southern Colorado.
Sarah Elizabeth Peel Willis is an American-born British-American French horn player. She is a member of the Berlin Philharmonic, and is a presenter of TV and online programs about classical music.
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.
The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian instrumental music ensemble based in Kelowna, British Columbia. From 2006 until December 2023 their principal conductor was Rosemary Thomson. The orchestra performs both classical and contemporary orchestral works. The orchestra plays throughout the Okanagan valley, in Kelowna, Penticton and Vernon.
