The Albany Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a professional symphony orchestra based in Albany, New York

Albany, New York

Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...

. The upcoming season will mark the orchestra's 78th.

Founded in 1930 as the People's Orchestra of Albany by Italian-born conductor John Carabella, the Albany Symphony is the oldest professional symphony orchestra based in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

's Capital District

Capital District

New York's Capital District, also known as the Capital Region, is a region in upstate New York that generally refers to the four counties surrounding Albany, the capital of the state: Albany County, Schenectady County, Rensselaer County, and Saratoga County...

. The ASO annually performs at performance venues such as The Palace Theatre in Albany, the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY, Canfield Casino at Congress Park

Canfield Casino and Congress Park

Canfield Casino and Congress Park is a site in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It was the site of the former Congress Spring Bottling Plant and the former Congress Hall, a large resort hotel, which together brought Saratoga Springs international fame as a health spa and gambling site...

 in Saratoga Springs, NY, and the First United Methodist Church

First United Methodist Church

First United Methodist Church is a common name for the first United Methodist church established in a particular locality. Many First United Methodist Churches exist around the world....

 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...

.

David Alan Miller

David Alan Miller

David Alan Miller is a prominent American classical music symphony orchestra conductor, and for the past several years, the conductor of the Albany Symphony Orchestra.-Early career and education:...

 has served as Music Director and Conductor of the orchestra since 1992. Former music directors have included John Carabella, Rudolf Thomas, Ole Windingstad, Edgar Curtis, Julius Hegyi

Julius Hegyi

-Reviews:John Rockwell wrote in the New York Times "...it can be flatly said that the best performance was Mr. Hegyi's account of Barber's one-movement symphony, which had its premiere in 1936, was revised in 1944 and championed by Artur Rodzinski and Bruno Walter...

, and Geoffrey Simon.

The ASO celebrated its 75th anniversary during the 2005/2006 season, which included solo appearances by cellist Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...

, bassist Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...

, violinist Yura Lee, baritone Nathan Myers, violinist Colin Jacobsen, pianist Joel Fan

Joel Fan

Joel Fan is a New York City–based pianist noted for his work with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project, as well as his solo virtuosity and eclectic repertoire.-Life and career:...

, violinist Jonathan Gandelsman, clarinetist Susan Martula, pianist Findlay Cockrell, percussionist Colin Currie

Colin Currie

-Early Years:Colin Currie began his musical studies at the age of 5, going on to study at the Junior Department of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama from 1990-1994. There he studied percussion with Pamella Dow and piano with Sheila Desson, both of whom had an enormous influence on him...

 flutist Paolo Bortolussi, pianist Yefim Bronfman

Yefim Bronfman

Yefim "Fima" Naumovich Bronfman is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist.-Biography:He was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and emigrated to Israel at the age of 15...

, violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

Nadja Rose Catherine Salerno-Sonnenberg is an Italian-born classical violinist, author, and teacher. She is a United States citizen.-Career:...

, and Frederic Lacroix. Also during the season, the ASO presented several world premiere performances of ASO commissioned works by composers such as Stephen Dankner, Michael Woods, Bun Ching Lam, Carolyn Yarnell

Carolyn Yarnell

Carolyn Yarnell is an American composer and visual artist. A recipient of the Rome Prize, Charles Ives Prize, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is particularly noted for works which combine visual and musical depictions of landscape and light, many of which were inspired by the landscapes of her...

, and Michael Torke

Michael Torke

Michael Torke is an American composer who writes music influenced by jazz and minimalism. Sometimes described as a post-minimalist, his most postminimal piece is Four Proverbs, in which the syllable for each pitch is fixed and variations in the melody produce streams of nonsense words. Other works...

.

Also, this past season, the 77th, the ASO featured Joshua Bell

Joshua Bell

Joshua David Bell is an American Grammy Award-winning violinist.-Childhood:Bell was born in Bloomington, Indiana, United States, the son of a psychologist and a therapist. Bell's father is the late Alan P...

 in a concert where the young violinist played Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...

's Violin Concerto

Violin Concerto (Mendelssohn)

Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64 is his last large orchestral work. It forms an important part of the violin repertoire and is one of the most popular and most frequently performed violin concertos of all time...

 and selections from West Side Story.

Since the 1980s, the ASO has released more than 20 CDs, encompassing nearly 60 works, for New World Records

New World Records

New World Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in American music. The label was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to produce a 100 disc anthology covering 200 years of American music....

, CRI, Albany Records

Albany Records

Albany Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987, and is based in Albany, New York.-External links:**...

, Argo, and London/Decca.

Members as of June 2006

• David Alan Miller
  David Alan Miller
  David Alan Miller is a prominent American classical music symphony orchestra conductor, and for the past several years, the conductor of the Albany Symphony Orchestra.-Early career and education:...
  
  , Music Director and Conductor

First Violin

• Jill Levy, Concertmaster
• Winona Fifield, Assistant Concertmaster
• Elizabeth Silver
• Paula Oakes
• Alexandra Cutler-Fetkewicz
• Heather Frank-Olsen
• Christine Kim
• Paula Shaw
• Harriet Dearden Welther

Second Violin

• Funda Cizmecioglu, Principal
• Mitsuko Suzuki, Assistant Principal
• Barbara Lapidus
• John Bosela
• Brigette Brodwin
• Ouisa Fohrhaltz
• Michael Glover
• Margret E. Hickey
• Marie-Claude Masse
• Margaret Schalit

Viola

• Susan St. Amour, Principal
• Noriko Futagami Herndon, Assistant Principal
• Carla Bellosa
• Robert A. Dean
• Nadege Foofat
• Kimberly Foster
• Marcia Nickerson
• Harriet Thomas
• Russell Wilson

Cello

• Susan Ruzow Libby, Principal
• Erica Pickhardt, Assistant Principal
• Petia Kassarova
• Kevin Bellosa
• Janet Taggart Blake
• Matt Capobianco
• Gail Falsetti
• Catherine Hackert
• Zig Mielens

Bass

• Bradley C. Aikman, Principal
• Philip Helm, Assistant Principal
• Luke Baker
• James Caiello
• Michael Fittipaldi
• Jeffrey Herchenroder

Flute

• Floyd Hebert, Principal
• Linda Greene

Oboe

• Karen Hosmer, Principal
• Nancy Dimock
• Nathaniel Fossner

English Horn

• Nathaniel Fossner

Clarinet

• Susan Martula, Principal"

Bassoon

• Stephen Walt, Principal
• Jonathan Macgowan

Horn

• William J. Hughes, Principal
• Victor Sungarian
• Alan Parshley

Trumpet

• Eric M. Berlin, Principal
• Eric J. Latini

Trombone

• Greg Spiridopoulos, Principal
• Karna Millen

Bass Trombone

• Wes Citron

Tuba

• Aubrey Foard
  Aubrey Foard
  - Biography :Foard is the principal tubist of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra. He also performs with the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra and has played as a substitute with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra....
  
  

Timpani

• Peter Wilson, Principal

Percussion

• Richard Albagli, Principal
• Mark Foster
• Scott Stacey

Harp

• Lynette Wardle, Principal

Discography

• Peter Mennin. Albany Records 260

Peter Mennin: Concertato, "Moby Dick"

Peter Mennin: Symphony No. 5

Peter Mennin: Fantasia for String Orchestra

Peter Mennin: Symphony No. 6

• Morton Gould. Albany Records 300

Morton Gould: Show Piece for Orchestra

Morton Gould: Piano Concerto (Randall Hodgkinson, piano)

Morton Gould: StringMusic

• The Great American Ninth. Albany Records 350

Roy Harris: Memories of a Child's Sunday

Roy Harris: Symphony No. 9

Roy Harris: Symphony No. 8 (Alan Feinberg, piano)

• Brutal Reality. Albany Records 354

Richard Adams: Brutal Reality

Arthur Bloom: Life is Like a Box of Chocolates

Evan Chambers: Concerto for Fiddle, Violin and Orchestra (Jill Levy, violin;

Nollaig Casey, fiddle)

John Fitz Rogers: Verge

Kamran Ince: Fest for Chamber Ensemble and Orchestra

• John Harbison. Albany Records 390

John Harbison: The Most Often Used Chords

John Harbison: Symphony No. 3

John Harbison: Flute Concerto (Randolph Bowman, flute)

• Don Gillis. Albany Records 391

Don Gillis: Symphony "x" (The Big D)

Don Gillis: Shindig

Don Gillis: Encore Concerto (Alan Feinberg, piano)

Don Gillis: Symphony No. 5 - 1/2

• Benjamin Lees. Albany Records 441

Andrew Bishop: Crooning

Allen Shawn: Piano Concerto (Ursula Oppens, piano)

Paul Creston: Dance Overture

Benjamin Lees: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Ian Hobson, piano)

• George Lloyd. Albany Reocords 458

George Lloyd: Cello Concerto (Anthony Ross, cello)

George Lloyd: Orchestral Suite No. 1 from "The Serf"

• Gould & Harris. Albany Records 515

Roy Harris: Symphony No. 2

Morton Gould: Symphony No. 3

• William Schuman. Albany Records 566

William Schuman: Credendum

William Schuman: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (John McCabe, piano)

William Schuman: Symphony No. 4

• Lopatnikoff, Helps, Thomson & Kurka. Albany Records 591

Nikolai Lopatnikoff: Festival Overture

Robert Helps: Concerto No. 2 for Piano & Orchestra (Alan Feinberg, piano)

Virgil Thomson: Filling Station (complete ballet)

Robert Kurka: Symphony No. 2, Op. 24

• Morton Gould Symphony No. 2. Albany Records 605

Steven Stucky: Son et Lumiere

Gabriel Ian Gould: Watercolors (Robert Sheena, English horn)

John Harbison: Cello Concerto (David Finckel, cello)

Morton Gould: Symphony No. 2, "On Marching Tunes"

• Vincent Persichetti. Albany Records 771
• Torke: Strawberry Fields. Ecstatic Records 92208

Michael Torke: Strawberry Fields

Michael Torke: Pentecost for soprano and orchestra (Margaret Lloyd, soprano)

External links

• Official Site
• Conductor David Alan Miller