Montgomery Symphony Orchestra

The Monkey Sucking Orgasms'Bold text'''' (MSO) seeks to promote music education and appreciation through a variety of concerts and programs and to provide a performing outlet for local musicians.

The Montgomery Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra in Montgomery, Alabama, with an ambitious series of national, regional and local outreach programs to both youth and adult musicians and to the music public, thanks to a number of well-endowed special-purpose funds. Nationally, the MSO has two-year Cello Fellow and Violin Fellow competitions leading to becoming artists-in-residence with the symphony orchestra, and a Young Artists Competition for youth musicians that features the largest cash prize in the country for its age group.

Regionally, the MSO conducts an institute with prizes for aspiring Alabama opera singers; provides two free outdoor pops concerts each year in the summer months, jointly drawing over 10,000 music lovers from throughout Central Alabama; and awards an annual $6,300 scholarship to an Alabama pre-college musician to attend Tanglewood Music Festival. Locally, the MSO hosts 3,500 sixth graders from area public and private schools at children's concerts; instructs junior high school string-instrumentalists each summer at a summer music seminar; and provides highly trained teachers to instruct children with musical interests at four elementary schools, with Saturday training for interested students at other schools. The MSO's Symphony League sponsors the Montgomery Youth Orchestra of 80-plus youths.

The symphony has more than 80 chairs and conducts eight concerts each year, most of them at its home in the 800-seat Davis Theatre in downtown Montgomery. The MSO began in 1976 as a project of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, with thirty volunteer musicians and a part-time director. A diverse board of directors of more than 80 leading citizens and music lovers, with a 10-member executive committee, now governs the orchestra, which is primarily funded by concert sponsors, granting foundations, the Montgomery Symphony League, and an endowment now approaching $4 million. The administrative staff is headed by Blake R. Thomas, the Executive Director.

The orchestra's varied programs range from Baroque to Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth Century, and from a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony involving 85 instrumentalists and more than 200 singers, to soloist performances by acclaimed youth and adult pianists and violinists and Metropolitan Opera singers.

Maestro Thomas Hinds has been the MSO's full-time music director and conductor for over 30 years, following 10 years as a professional performing musician. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, received training at four American and one German institute, and has conducted as both a resident and guest conductor at six other orchestras in the U.S. and one in Australia. He hosts a Friday morning radio program on WTSU 89.9 FM to discuss music and concerts with guests. The Violin Fellow and Cello Fellow, as well artists in residence, serve as concertmaster and principal cellist, respectively. The two two-year fellowships begin in alternating years.

Programs of the Montgomery Symphony

The MSO receives financial assistance for its programs through a joint grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C., a federal agency; through several endowment funds; through support groups such as the Montgomery Symphony League, the Allegro Society, the Business Friends of the Montgomery Symphony, and the Fellowship Fund; through individual sponsorships and support from numerous businesses, other organizations and personal contributors; and through subscriptions and program advertising. Among the major programs of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra are these:

  • Subscription Concert Series: Each year the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra gives five subscription concerts (four classical concerts at the Davis Theatre and a Holiday Pops Concert at the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre), a children's concert at the Alabama State University Acadome, and two free outdoor concerts, one a pops concert around Memorial Day on the lawn of the Alabama Department of Archives and History building next to the Capitol and the other Broadway under the Stars in the Blount Cultural Park near the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Over 10,000 pop music lovers from towns such as Auburn, Troy and Selma (each 50 miles away) regularly attend the pops concerts. The various concerts often include prominent guest artists.
  • Violin Fellow and Cello Fellow: The MSO hosts two world-class musicians in the community each year, selected from among dozens of highly talented emerging artists, who apply for a two-year Artist-in-Residence fellowship with the MSO. There is a $35,000 stipend to each recipient per nine-month season. In odd-numbered years a Violin Fellow and in even-numbered years a Cello Fellow is selected through the international competition that begins with tapes and recommendations and culminates in a judging of the four finalists at the Montgomery Art Museum Auditorium. The Violin Fellow serves as the symphony's concertmaster and the Cello Fellow as its principal cellist, with each performing as a soloist during the season. The two also participate in the popular Fellowship Series of concerts held each year, giving three chamber concerts apiece, and are active in other MSO programs in the community while being able to accept significant outside performance opportunities that may further their careers. The violin fellowship began in 1989 and its success led to the cello fellowship in 1996.
  • MSO Fellowship Series: Throughout the year the Violin Fellow and the Cello Fellow alternately perform with guest artists in a total of six chamber music concerts as part of the MSO Fellowship Series. It is always a showcase for the skills of the artists-in-residence, who by virtue of their selection in national and even worldwide competition have shown they are virtuosos. The fellowships are funded by a generous endowment from the Aaron and Marjorie Aronov Family Foundation.
  • Blount-Slawson Young Artists Competition: This longtime program is recognized as one of the most important competitions for teenage musicians in America. The $10,000 first prize is the largest cash prize for musicians in this age group (7th-12th grade) in the United States, and runners-up are awarded almost $7,000 more. The winner of the two-day competition is also offered an opportunity to perform a concerto with the MSO. The competition began locally in 1981 as a collaboration between the Montgomery Symphony League and the Blount Foundation. Ten years later the competition was expanded to ten Southern states, and was further expanded in 1998 to a national competition with any junior or senior high school musician in the U.S. welcome to compete. In 2004 the Guice Slawson family made a major investment in the competition which now also carries their name. Winners have gone on to distinguished careers in music. Judges have come from major music schools in the South and from Boston University, which developed a keen interest in the competition and has regularly sent teams of judges to Montgomery to serve on the juries judging the approximately 80 string, wind, brass, percussion and piano competitors from about half the states in the U.S. each year.
  • Boston University Tanglewood Institute Scholarship: An Alabama musician (singer, instrumentalist or pianist) aged 14–18 is awarded a $6,300 scholarship each year to the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the high school division of the world-famous music festival at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass. The scholarship, which is awarded after a judging, was endowed in perpetuity by an anonymous donor to ensure that a musician from Alabama will always be able to attend Tanglewood, where for eight weeks the best pre-college musicians from around the world work and perform in the shadow of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Several other participants in the judging may receive partial scholarships. The judging by the Boston University faculty is held in Montgomery at the time of the Blount-Slawson Young Artists Competition.
  • Vann Vocal Institute: Each spring, beginning in 2010, the Vann Vocal Institute has conducted a unique event not replicated anywhere else in the United States. It consists of a two-day jammed-packed schedule of activities with 80 fledgling opera singers and other vocalists from across Alabama. It is directed by Metropolitan Opera Principal Artist David Cangelosi, who also serves as the institute's artistic director and who gathers an impressive guest faculty of artists at Huntingdon College to teach and coach the carefully selected young singers. Through a series of public master classes and a busy schedule of lectures and private coaching by the guest faculty, students receive one-on-one instruction from some of the top professionals in the world of opera. The Emerging Artists Recital at the end of the institute features the most accomplished of the young singers at a public venue, at which a number of prizes are presented. The institute is made possible by a generous bequest of Roy D. Vann.
  • Children's Concerts: The MSO has for over three decades conducted two annual Children's Concerts for more than 3,500 public and private school sixth-graders from throughout the region at the Alabama State University Acadome and/or the Davis Theatre. For many students it is the first, and sometimes the only, exposure to a live orchestra concert, where the orchestra attempts to stimulate the imagination of youngsters and broaden their artistic horizon. The concerts feature an "introduction by example" to the various sections of the orchestra – strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. Frequently a young soloist is selected to perform in these concerts, and the programs always conclude with a series of guest conductors plucked from the audience taking the baton in hand and conducting the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra. The concerts are generously sponsored by Publix Super Markets and Publix Super Markets Charities.
  • StringFellows Summer Music Seminar: Each summer the Montgomery Symphony and Huntingdon College host the StringFellows Summer Music Seminar, a seven-day residential music camp on the Huntingdon campus for over 30 rising 7th-9th grade string players from around the state and several neighboring states. They immerse themselves in musical activities and classes which are anchored by a string orchestra and a closing concert. The artistic faculty is selected for their expertise, enthusiasm and a great love of teaching music. In 2006 a generous patron endowed the StringFellows Summer Music Seminar in perpetuity, and several other patrons have established awards to recognize the youngsters' hard work. Scholarships ranging from $50 to $200 are available.
  • Montgomery Music Project: This music education program was founded in the 2011-2012 season by former MSO Cello Fellow Laura Usiskin to provide affordable, high-quality music instruction to children in the Montgomery area. Highly trained teachers instruct children three days a week at three locations: The Cleveland Avenue Cultural Arts Center for students who attend E.D. Nixon Elementary, T.S. Morris Elementary, and Montgomery Christian School; the Montgomery Academy Lower School; and Wilson Elementary School through the YMCA Goodtimes program. Additional instruction is provided on Saturday mornings at Trinity Presbyterian Church for area string students from other schools. The instruction is in violin, viola and cello, as well as in general musicianship, theory, and orchestra. Students receive an instrument and supplies in addition to the instruction. The Montgomery Music Project's education director is Chin-Mei Li, who leads an exceptional teaching staff that includes four current and former Violin and Cello Fellows. Concerts are held in the winter and spring, and there is a two-week summer day camp for children of a variety of ages and abilities. The project has approximately 100 students per semester and offers scholarships covering up to 95% of its program fee so that all children are able to participate.
  • Montgomery Youth Orchestra: As a project of the Symphony League, over 80 young musicians from across Central Alabama meet each Saturday morning to rehearse music from all eras. The orchestra gives two free public concerts each year, and for 23 years has been conducted by Maestra Yvonne Collins, a violinist and pianist and the MSO's Principal Second Violin. She has also served as a violinist at three other orchestras and is an active chamber musician and founder of a local string trio. Youth Orchestra members may apply for a variety of scholarship opportunities funded by the Montgomery Symphony League to help support participation at summer music camps and festivals, participate in private lessons, and purchase needed instruments.
  • Miscellaneous Outreach Efforts: Maestro Thomas Hinds and the two Fellows, and other leaders associated with the MSO, speak at various public events about the symphony. MSO also forwards information about other musical events in Montgomery, such as college recitals and visiting choral groups, to its members in an effort to spread the appreciation of live musical performances. Each year, if the level of participation is sufficient, MSO arranges for music lovers to travel to Tanglewood as a group to enjoy the music events there.

Montgomery Symphony History

For over 40 years, the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra has played a key role in Montgomery's artistic community. Throughout the years, many individuals have given generously of their time, talent, and resources to ensure that residents of Montgomery's River Region and the state of Alabama have the opportunity to hear great orchestral works performed.

The Montgomery Symphony Orchestra began in 1976 under the direction of First United Methodist Church Music Director John Dressler who originally organized the group to accompany the church's choirs. Wind, brass, and percussion players were recruited and a close relationship was developed with the City of Montgomery's Parks and Recreation Department through the efforts of Joanna Bosko, the city's Cultural Arts Supervisor and a member of the orchestra. The MSO rehearsed at the church and as it grew, began to offer concerts in the community. Maestro Dressler guided the young orchestra with great success and retired from the podium in 1979.

MSO trombonist Marshall Brown was the Orchestra's second conductor and led the MSO for three seasons. It was during this time that the orchestra's structure began to take shape. A Board of Directors was formed in 1980 and incorporated in 1981 under the leadership of Stanley Gregory, President. The Montgomery Symphony League formed a year later with Barbara Barnes serving as the first president.

Following a year-long search for a new Music Director and Conductor, Thomas Hinds stepped onto the MSO's podium at the beginning of the 1983-1984 season where he remains today. Many of the Symphony's best-known concerts and programs, including the Children's Concerts, Broadway Under the Stars, the Montgomery Symphony Radio Show, and the Fellowship Program, were instituted under his direction. His debut as Music Conductor coincided with the MSO's debut on the Davis Theatre stage.

In the late 1980's the organization turned its combined efforts toward nurturing the artistic development of the Orchestra. The Fellowship Program brought a world-class violinist into the MSO's midst to help lead and inspire the strings. A new scholarship program sponsored by the League supported the musical development of the orchestra's volunteer musicians by subsidizing lessons and promoting attendance at music festivals. An instrument loan fund allowed players to purchase more professional caliber instruments. Finally, the MSO moved its weekly rehearsals from its longtime home at First United Methodist Church to the Davis Theatre. Helen Steineker was appointed the Manager of the Montgomery Symphony 1986, expanding the orchestra's capability to establish and maintain programs.

A focus on music education inspired the development of several programs in the 1990s. The Montgomery Symphony Radio Show first aired in 1992 and continues today, providing a weekly opportunity to educate listeners on all aspects of music. Two other programs, the Trawick Players, and the Stringfellows Summer Music Seminar were initiated to provide musical learning opportunities for elementary and junior high students.

Music Director and conductor, Maestro Thomas Hinds provided outstanding guidance and vision to the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra for over 30 years. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Maestro Hinds was a professional musician with the Alabama Symphony for ten years prior to taking up the baton.

His past podiums, as both a resident and guest conductor, including the Ft. Worth Civic Orchestra, Red Mountain Chamber Orchestra, Johnson City Symphony, Gadsden Symphony, the Southern Regional Opera Company, the Birmingham Metropolitan Orchestra, and the Brisbane (Australia) Conservatory Orchestra.

Maestro Hinds has also served as the music director for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's productions of Man of La Mancha, Beauty and the Beast, and, most recently, West Side Story. In 2007, he received the Governor's Arts Award from the Alabama State Council on the Arts - the first conductor in its history to be so honored.

Maestro Hinds received his training at the Aspen Festival in Colorado, the Goldofsky Opera Institute in Massachusetts, the Pierre Monteux Domain School in Maine, Munich Philharmonic's Conductors' Course, and at the American Conductors' Guild Institute.

Blake R. Thomas assumed the role of Executive Director of the Montgomery Symphony Association (MSA) July 10, 2017. Mr. Thomas holds a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Music/Bass Performance from the University of Alabama. First introduced to the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and its programs at Stringfellows and throughout his attendance of Montgomery's art magnet schools, he has amassed 20+ years of direct involvement with the MSO, undertaking nearly every aspect of programs offered by the MSA.

Attending from kindergarten through sixth grade at Carver Elementary, through junior high at Baldwin, to graduation at Booker T. Washington Magnet High School, Blake R. Thomas is proud to be a product of the Montgomery's creative arts magnet schools. Besides performing as a bassist with the MSO for over ten years, he has performed as a bassist with the Montgomery Youth Orchestra, as a member of the Huxford Orchestra at UA, as a visiting musician with the collegiate orchestra at Mississippi State University, and in theatre and musical productions in Montgomery at the Cloverdale Playhouse, the Sanctuary, and local churches.

Mr. Thomas is an enthusiastic supporter of the arts and demonstrates that through his experience as a musician, community volunteer, and his service on the Executive Board of Directors of the Arts Council of Montgomery. He has a combined six years of public service with the State of Alabama at the Alabama Public Service Commission and the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. He brings to the MSA's Executive Director position a unique skillset with his economic, business, service, and orchestral background.

Ranked at the top of Blake's priorities is his family. Also very important to him is inspiring young people to love music as much as he does.

The key to the success of the Montgomery Symphony has always lived in the hearts of those who loved it. Through the years, hundreds of musicians have devoted nearly a half million volunteer hours to rehearse and perform the great music of the ages. Many musicians have pledged their Monday nights to the MSO for 30 years or more, including several charter members. The maturity they bring to the Orchestra's performances undergirds its artistic success. In appreciation, they have been supported by the time, energy and resources of an entire community and sustained by the enthusiastic applause of a grateful audience.

References

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