| The Women's Philharmonic (TWP) | |
|---|---|
| Orchestra | |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Disbanded | 2004 |
| Location | San Francisco, California |
The Women's Philharmonic (TWP) was a San Francisco-based, professional orchestra founded by Miriam Abrams, Elizabeth Seja Min and Nan Washburn in 1981 and disbanded in 2004. [1]
Originally known as the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic, in 1998, the orchestra's repertoire consisted almost entirely of works by more than 150 women, including more than 130 premiere performances and more than 40 commissions. [2] A partial list of TWP's repertoire, compiled by Women's Philharmonic Advocacy, includes 283 works. TWP's mission was "to change the face of what is played in every concert hall by incorporating works by women composers into the orchestral repertoire." [3] TWP's long list of accomplishments includes multiple awards for Adventurous Programming from ASCAP and the American Symphony Orchestra League.
The Women's Philharmonic received funding from the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the San Francisco Arts Commission, and the Women's Foundation of San Francisco. Insufficient funds to meet programmatic needs was central to the closure of the orchestra in 2004. [4]
In 2008, Women's Philharmonic Advocacy was formed "in order to recognize the achievement of The Women's Philharmonic (1980-2004) over their 24 years of activity, to build on this work by advocating for the performance of women composers by orchestras and ensembles, to address the place of women composers (historic and contemporary) in today's repertoire of orchestras and ensembles in the US and internationally, and to present information that highlights the shortage of programming of works by women; the heritage of The Women's Philharmonic emphasizes that this should and can be corrected." [5]
The Philharmonic continues in existence as the Community Women's Orchestra, which was initially founded in 1985 by Nan Washburn as an adjunct to The Women's Philharmonic.
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
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.
Michael Tilson Thomas is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the San Francisco Symphony, and Conductor Laureate of the London Symphony Orchestra. He gave his final performance with the San Francisco Symphony in January 2024 while fighting brain cancer. He led the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Beethoven's 9th Symphony on November 14, 2024.
Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: The Tempest (2004), Violin Concerto (2005), Tevot (2007), In Seven Days (2008), and Polaris (2010).
James Conlon is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera and principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra.
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.
Leif Selim Segerstam was a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist, and pianist, especially known for writing over 300 symphonies, along with other works.
Leila Bronia Josefowicz is an American-Canadian classical violinist.
Sarah Ioannides is a British conductor, collaborator, and multimedia producer living in the United States. She is currently the music director of Symphony Tacoma, the founding artistic director of Cascade Conducting and Composing, and the resident conductor of the NYO-USA.
Josef Alois Krips was an Austrian conductor and violinist.
Eivind Aadland is a Norwegian conductor and violinist. He has been concert master of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2020 he has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Frey, KM, KStJ, is an American symphony orchestra conductor, virtuoso organist, pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Frey is in great demand as one of the world's most versatile conductors, and enjoys success in the concert hall and opera house, and in the music of Broadway and Hollywood. Leonard Bernstein referred to him as "a wonderful spirit".
The Community Women's Orchestra (CWO), based in Oakland, California, was founded by conductor Nan Washburn in 1985 as a community project adjunct to The Women's Philharmonic (TWP), a now-defunct, professional orchestra.
Apo Hsu or Hsu Ching-hsin is a Taiwanese-American conductor. Hsu served as music director of the National Taiwan Normal University Symphony Orchestra and the Springfield Symphony Orchestra in Springfield, Missouri. Her past appointments include serving as artistic director of The Women's Philharmonic in San Francisco, California, and conductor of the Oregon Mozart Players in Eugene, Oregon. She has been a mentor for many young conductors on both sides of the world through her work at NTNU and at The Conductor's Institute at Bard College in New York. Her performances have been featured in national broadcasts in the United States, Taiwan, and Korea.
Jeffrey Alan Kahane is an American classical concert pianist and conductor. He was music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for 20 years, the longest of any music director in the orchestra's history. He is the music director of the Sarasota Music Festival, a program of the Sarasota Orchestra, music director-designate of the San Antonio Philharmonic, and a professor of keyboard studies (Piano) at the USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, California.
David Porcelijn is a Dutch composer and conductor.
Gisèle Ben-Dor is a Uruguayan-American-Israeli orchestra conductor.
The Michigan Philharmonic is a professional symphony orchestra in Southeast Michigan. The Michigan Phil has grown from a small community orchestra to an award-winning, dynamic and innovative professional regional orchestra serving several Michigan communities, including Plymouth, Canton, Birmingham-Bloomfield, Grosse Pointe, Detroit. Nan Washburn has served as Music Director and Conductor since 1999.
Richard Fleischman is an American violist and viola d'amore player, conductor and pedagogue.
Benjamin Shwartz is an American-Israeli orchestral and opera conductor, and music director of the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, Koblenz (Germany). Formerly he held the position of music director of the Wrocław Philharmonic known for his interest in and commitment to new music. Born in Los Angeles and raised there and in Israel, he attended the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California before enrolling in the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied composition with James Primosch. He continued his composition studies in Germany with Karlheinz Stockhausen. As a conducting student at the Curtis Institute of Music, he studied with Otto-Werner Mueller and worked closely with Christoph Eschenbach and Ned Rorem. Shwartz won numerous awards including the Presser Award, and Third Prize in the 2007 International Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg, Germany.
The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra (SFSYO) is a youth orchestra organized by the San Francisco Symphony. The SFSYO performs an annual concert series and has made several recordings. The orchestra rehearses in Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall and has been directed by Radu Paponiu since the 2024-2025 season.
