Southeast Symphony

Last updated
Southeast Symphony Association
Orchestra
Founded1948
Concert hall First Congregational Church of Los Angeles
Principal conductor Anthony R. Parnther
Website www.southeastsymphony.com

The Southeast Symphony Association is a non-profit, musical and cultural association located in Inglewood, California.

The association was founded in 1948 by music teacher Mabel Massengill Gunn. Gunn's goal was to create an orchestra that welcomed African-American musicians, music teachers and patrons of the arts in an era during which the classical music world was still predominantly segregated. As of 2010, the association's orchestra remains the longest continuously performing primarily African-American orchestra in the world. Alumni of the association's orchestra have gone on to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra and the El Paso Opera Company. [1]

The group currently offers musical classes to students of various ages through the Los Angeles Unified School District. The association has a sponsorship relationship with the Nissan car company. The current Music Director and Conductor of the symphony is Anthony R. Parnther.

Related Research Articles

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, officially known in shorthand as LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September. Gustavo Dudamel is the current music director, Esa-Pekka Salonen is conductor laureate, Zubin Mehta is conductor emeritus, and Susanna Mälkki is principal guest conductor. John Adams is the orchestra's current composer-in-residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Grant Still</span> American composer (1895–1978)

William Grant Still Jr. was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, art songs, chamber music, and solo works. Born in Mississippi and growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, Still attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and then Edgard Varèse. Because of his close association and collaboration with prominent African-American literary and cultural figures, Still is considered to be part of the Harlem Renaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Tilson Thomas</span> American conductor, pianist and composer (b1944)

Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Mehli Mehta was an Indian conductor and violinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Bradley</span> American conductor

Sean Bradley is an American conductor, composer, violinist, music theorist, educator, and impresario. Bradley is conductor of the Bradley String Orchestra, and president of Concert Talent—a production company which provides corporate entertainment, engagement marketing, talent management and logistical support for major label recording and touring artists. In recent years, his activities as an entrepreneur have increasingly included funding and leading a variety of music-related projects on the World Wide Web. He is the founder of Bravoflix, the first online subscription video service in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the performing arts, as well as a technology consultancy providing custom web application development and cloud computing. As a musician, he performs regularly on stages in the U.S., China, and Mexico.

The Pacific Boychoir was formed in 1998 with 6 boys, and it now includes more than 175 singers from ages 4 to 18. The New York Times said the PBA goes “beyond the reach of most youth choirs” and the Los Angeles Times described the PBA quality of sound and musicianship as “astonishing.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Lewis (musician)</span> American conductor

Henry Jay Lewis was an American double-bassist and orchestral conductor whose career extended over four decades. A child prodigy, he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic at age 16, becoming the first African-American instrumentalist in a major symphony orchestra and, later, the first African-American symphony orchestra conductor in the United States. As musical director of the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra, he supported America's cultural diplomacy initiatives in Europe after World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Bonds</span> American composer and pianist (1913–1972)

Margaret Allison Bonds was an American composer, pianist, arranger, and teacher. One of the first Black composers and performers to gain recognition in the United States, she is best remembered today for her popular arrangements of African-American spirituals and frequent collaborations with Langston Hughes.

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (HBO) is a symphony orchestra which is managed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and plays the vast majority of its performances at the Hollywood Bowl.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Marocco</span> American accordionist, arranger and composer

Frank L. Marocco was an American piano-accordionist, arranger and composer. He was recognized as one of the most recorded accordionists in the world.

Anthony Dean Griffey is an American opera tenor. He is a regular presence on the stages of opera houses and concert halls around the world. Griffey has also been noted for his acting talent in addition to his voice.

Gilles Chiasson is an American producer, director, composer, writer and actor. While he first came to prominence as an actor, particularly in the original cast of the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning RENT, Chiasson went on to work in film and television development, then theater administration and operations, and now works in education. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife Sherri Parker Lee and their two sons. He is a theater teacher at a high school in Los Angeles.

George Li is an American concert pianist who was a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2016 and silver medalist of the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition.

John Morris Russell, also known as JMR, is an American orchestral conductor best known for his association with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife and two children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethel Leginska</span> British pianist, conductor and composer

Ethel Liggins was a British pianist, conductor and composer. A student of Theodor Leschetizky, she became widely known as the ‘Paderewski of woman pianists’ and established herself as one of the first female conductors.

The Pasadena Symphony and POPS is an American orchestra based in Pasadena, California. In 2010 it took up residence at the Ambassador Auditorium, where its Classics Series runs from October through April. Since 2012 it performs a summer series at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden from June through September.

J. Gregory Miller is an American horn player, composer and music arranger.

John Thomas Holiday Jr. is an American operatic countertenor. His repertoire focuses on the Baroque and contemporary composers, including staged opera and opera in concert, works for voice and orchestra, and experimental mixed-media. He has participated in several world premieres. He has performed with several opera companies in the United States, toured with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and sung in Shanghai and several European cities. He also sings gospel, pop, and jazz; he was a contestant on season 19 of NBC's The Voice, a vocal competition television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black conductors</span>

Black conductors are musicians of African, Caribbean, African-American ancestry and other members of the African diaspora who are musical ensemble leaders who direct classical music performances, such as an orchestral or choral concerts, or jazz ensemble big band concerts by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face and head. Conductors of African descent are rare, as the vast majority are male and Caucasian.

References

  1. "The Southeast Symphony". Archived from the original on 2008-08-09. Retrieved 2010-05-03.