This year will be
the 47th year of the annual Dorothy Gluckmann Music
Award competition. Dorothy Gluckmann was the founder of
the Symphony Guild in 1969 and its
first president.
This prestigious
music award is open to graduating high school seniors in
Fairfield County who are gifted instrumental music
students. A prize of $1,000 is
available and applications must be completed and postmarked no
later than February 20.
Application forms
may be obtained by calling the Greenwich Symphony office at
(203) 869-2664. Auditions will be held in March and the
winner will be announced at the final
concert of the Greenwich Symphony's 2007-2008 season.
The Greenwich Symphony Guild recognizes that the future
of classical music performance depends
on music education and appreciation. In support of the vital
role of music we enthusiastically sponsor this
competition with proceeds from the
Guild's Wine and Cheese Festival held last October at Richards
of Greenwich.
In the 1940s a
small group of musicians began playing together in Greenwich,
progressing to the point of hiring a
young conductor, Thomas Baldner. Greenwich Time referred to the
group as ''Baldner's symphonic
aggregation.'' There was a tentative start-up again in 1956, and
several concerts were given under the
baton of Kenneth Wendrich. These were so well received that they
led to the founding of the Greenwich Philharmonia with
Mrs. Allan Converse as first president. John
Sweeney followed Wendrich as music director.
In 1967 Marianne
Jeffrey was elected president. Under her able and dedicated
leadership the orchestra began a
steady rise in growth and prestige. John Nelson became music
director in 1967. James Conlon was
engaged as assistant conductor and Dorothy Happel became
concertmaster. The orchestra was awarded its first grants
from the Connecticut State Commission
on the Arts and from local corporations and benefactors,
enabling it to expand the season to
include both Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon performances.
Dorothy Gluckmann,
who established the student scholarship award in 1960, headed
the first women's auxiliary (now Guild
and also open to men) in 1969. It began to raise funds and
support and serve the orchestra, which is now fully
professional and 85 strong.
In 1975 David
Gilbert became music director and conductor. At the time he was
principal conductor of the Amrican
Ballet Theatre and assistant conductor of the New York
Philharmonic. He served as principal
guest conductor of the Peking Central Philharmonic while
continuing to fulfill his American
commitments. Under his leadership the GSO has grown in stature
and has commissioned several new
works.
Olwen Jones
succeeded Marianne Jeffrey as president and served until 1980.
During this period, the pre-concert
lectures, presented by Associate Conductor Patricia Handy, were
started. Ms. Handy was also music
director of the Goliard Concerts in New York City.
Mahlon Perkins
served as president from 1980 to 1983. In 1981, encouraged by
the vision of George Gray and the
fundraising capabilities of Sue McCalley, the Young People's
Concerts were inaugurated. Conducted by Patricia Handy,
the concerts insure that all public
and independent school children in Greenwich, grades two through
seven, are exposed to classical
symphonic music.
At the behest of
orchestra members and David Gilbert, the Greenwich Philharmonia
became the Greenwich Symphony
Orhcestra in its twenty-fifth anniversary season, 1982-1983.
Other noteworthy happenings were the
first dual concert with the Greenwich Choral Society and the
establishment of the endowment fund, which was greatly
enhanced by two benefit concerts starring
Victor Borge. In June 1983, Mary Radcliffe was named
president, a position she still holds.
The Greenwich
Choral Society and the GSO collaborated again in 1984 and 1992.
Their most popular collaborations, however, are the
''Greenwich Pops into Summer'' concerts
beginning in 1987.
The January 1989
concerts were dedicated to Gretchen Belknap, a founder,
principal cellist, and personnel
manager, who served the orchestra for 30 years. Concertmaster
Dorothy Happel retired in 1992 afer 25
years of perfect attendance at every rehearsal and concert. Joel
Pitchon was appointed to that position in 1993 and
succeeded by Krystof Witek in 2003.
Throughout its
history, the GSO has been managed by its experienced and
dedicated volunteer board of
directors. Consequently, it enjoys the lowest administrative
overhead ratio of any orchestra with a
comparable budget in the American Symphony Orchestra League.
The GSO has
featured such acclaimed soloists as Emanuel Ax, Barry Douglas,
Claude Frank, John O'Conor, Peter
Serkin, Ani Kavafian, Garrick Ohlsson, Frederica von Stade,
Sharon Robinson, and Dawn Upshaw. In 1997-1998, the
orchestra celebrated its 40th
anniversary season, presenting beautiful programs and
outstanding soloists who have given
extraordinary performances with the GSO in past years. We thank
our audience and friends who, with
their dedicated and generous support, have helped us present a
wide variety of great orchestral music
in Greenwich.
