Home
Concerts & Tickets
Touring
CDs
Concert Reviews
Music Director: Daniel Spalding
Principal Soloist: Gabriela Imreh
History & Mission Statement
Vision & Mission
Overview
Plans for Expansion
Links
Contact Us
|
| Vision and Mission |
|
The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra is committed to changing lives through music’s extraordinary power to communicate, and thus inspire, uplift, educate and entertain. We are dedicated to challenging classical performance boundaries by offering fresh interpretations of the standard chamber orchestra repertoire as well as the discovery of new and unusual works. Through live performances that are evocative, dramatic, and passionate we seek to develop new audiences of all ages for classical music.
|
In executing its mission, the PVCO is committed to:
- Increasing the awareness of, and support for, music written for chamber orchestra
- Preserving and enhancing the Center City Philadelphia Concert Series
- Developing new audiences for classical music of all ages
- Producing regional performances and outreach programs, especially at schools, retirement homes, and other appropriate venues in order to serve more constituents and communities
- Touring throughout the United States and in other countries throughout the world
- Recording significant chamber orchestra repertoire for worldwide distribution
- Promoting local composers and musicians
|
| Overview of the Organization |
Back to Top |
| History |
1991-1995
A Vision of High Artistic Standards
The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1991 by Daniel Spalding, whose vision was to combine the great European chamber orchestra tradition with the extraordinary virtuosity of some of the finest musicians from the Philadelphia area and the east coast. During the first few years of operations a number of performance venues were utilized, especially in suburban locations. This included several appearances on a concert series at the Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey (where the orchestra made its debut in October of 1991), engagements at Swarthmore College in a benefit for the Chester-Swarthmore Community Coalition, Trinity Cathedral (Trenton), Valentines Day Concerts at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia, and in keeping with the orchestra's mission to reach young audiences, youth concerts at Brookdale Community College, Westtown School and the New Jersey State Museum. During this time, a Board was formed and the PVCO was incorporated as a non-profit (501)(3)(c) in December of 1993.
|
1996-1999
Establishing a Home While Seeking National and International Recognition
The period 1996-1999 marked tremendous expansion in the scope of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra's activities. In January of 1996, the PVCO made its New York debut to a standing ovation in a special program of Romanian music for the New York Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. That same year, seeking to become more known and to serve its home city, the PVCO implemented its Center City Concert Series at First Presbyterian Church at 21st and Walnut. Since that time, the PVCO has been "in residence" at this location and has dedicated itself to serving this diverse center city neighborhood with a series of concerts every season.
In addition to its expanding concert activities, the orchestra recorded two CD's for the Connoisseur Society label, the first of which was a finalist for the 1998 Grammy nominations. With increased national and international attention coming its way, the PVCO secured a contract with Community Concerts, Inc. for a national tour including a performance at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. During 1998-99 and with Gabriela Imreh as piano soloist, the PVCO toured a total of six weeks throughout the western and mid-western states, all to high critical acclaim. The PVCO also made its first international appearances when it visited Brazil in the fall of 1998 for a nine-concert three week tour including concerts in Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and other major cities.
|
2000-2004
National & International Recognition and Service to Our Neighborhood and City
The 2000-2001 season continued with a busy schedule of touring. Four weeks of concerts throughout the eastern half of the USA with thirteen concerts in eight states from New Hampshire to Illinois, were followed by two concerts to open the prestigious Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, and a one month long seventeen concert tour of Brazil including performing at several major international music festivals and on Brazilian television. The Center City Concert Series continued at the First Presbyterian Church. One of these concerts included the world premiere of "Limites" by the distinguished French composer Jean-Louis Petit, who dedicated the work to the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and traveled from Paris to conduct the performance. There were also outreach concerts including performing at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, the Media Theater in Media, PA, and the Westtown School. In the fall of 2002, the PVCO was able to implement for the first time its vision to bring free concerts to economically depressed minority neighborhoods with a performance at the Episcopal Church of the Advocate located in north Philadelphia.
Continuing in its commitment to record significant chamber orchestra repertoire, the PVCO recorded the music of American composer George Antheil for Naxos, one of the world's largest classical recording companies. This CD was released in the fall of 2001 and received incredible praise throughout the world press, including being designated as "Editor's Choice" for Gramophone, "CD of the week" by BBC Radio 3 and the London Observer, and as one of the top 10 classical CD's of 2001 by the Chicago Tribune. It was also a best selling album in the United Kingdom, and continues to be one of Naxos' best selling CDs in the United States.
The Center City Concert Series continued as well as a special effort to implement more outreach concerts at schools, retirement communities and economically depressed neighborhoods. During the 2003-2004 season, support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Huston Foundation, Five County Arts Fund, Yamaha Artist Services, and a number of private donors enabled the orchestra to bring classical music concerts to the Episcopal Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia, Widener University in Chester, and to Trenton Central High School and Trinity Cathedral in New Jersey.
|
The Present & Future
Plans for expansion |
Back to Top |
Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra Today (2004-2008)
The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra is now in its 15th season. The Center City Concert Series continues at the First Presbyterian Church with innovative concert programs that have attracted the attention of Philadelphia’s classical music reviewers as well as the public. Major national and international tours continue to be a part of the orchestra's schedule. The 2004-2005 season took the orchestra to Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, California, Arizona, and Florida. In 2005 the PVCO performed in the prestigious Composer Portrait Series at Miller Theater at Columbia University in New York City (which received a favorable review in the New York Times), for the Wednesday Club in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and made a return appearance at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Kravis program was recorded live for broadcast on 248 National Public Radio stations for the program “Performance Today.” In April of 2006 the PVCO toured Brazil and Argentina (its third tour to South America) and in the fall of 2006 gave touring performances in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. In 2008 the orchestra will be making its debut in Spain. Two recording projects have also come to fruition. An all Howard Hanson CD was released in July of 2006 on Naxos, the second recording for the PVCO on the world’s largest classical label. For the second project, over $34,000 was earmarked from the Aaron Copland Fund for American Music and the Francis Coelet Charitable Lead Trusts in order to record a new CD of the music of George Antheil for New World Records. This recording took place in October of 2005 and was released in September of 2006. George Blood, recording engineer for the Philadelphia Orchestra is producer.
For the past several years, the PVCO was selected to be on the Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour roster. This program is funded by the Heinz Endowment, the William Penn Foundation, Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, the PEW Charitable Trusts, and the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation. The PVCO is also directly funded by the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, and in recent years has been supported by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, Cassett Foundation, Arcadia Foundation, Dofinger-McMahon Foundation, Huston Foundation, the Frank & Lydia Bergen Foundation, and the Judson Foundation. There have also been a number of private donors who have generously supported the orchestra.
Reaching more communities with the richness and beauty of classical music in the Philadelphia region and the world, and expanding education for young and new audiences are all priorities for the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra as it moves into the new millennium.
|
|
