The Allentown Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a major regional symphony orchestra based in Allentown

Allentown, Pennsylvania

Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Founded in 1951, the orchestra's current home is the historic, 1200-seat Allentown Symphony Hall, located in downtown Allentown. The orchestra has the distinction of being the smallest symphony in the United States to own its own performance hall.

ASO performs five subscription concerts per year. In addition, the orchestra's educational, youth and family concerts reach more than 5,000 children each year. The orchestra also hosts the Symphony Ball, for decades a leading annual social event in the Lehigh Valley.

History

The Allentown Symphony has had only three music directors throughout its history. Emmy

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

-nominated Donald Voorhees

Donald Voorhees

Donald Voorhees was an American composer and conductor who received an Emmy Award nomination for "Individual Achievements in Music" for his work on the television series, The Bell Telephone Hour.-Career:Starting in 1926, Voorhees' orchestra recorded prolifically for Columbia,...

, noted conductor of the The Bell Telephone Hour

The Bell Telephone Hour

The Bell Telephone Hour is a long-run concert series which began April 29, 1940 on NBC Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone, it showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television...

and Cavalcade of America

Cavalcade of America

Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on...

radio and television show orchestras, served as the music director of the Allentown Symphony for over thirty years (1951 to 1983). Under his direction, the orchestra collaborated with such notable musicians as Placido Domingo

Plácido Domingo

Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...

, Phyllis Curtin

Phyllis Curtin

Phyllis Curtin is an American classical soprano who had an active career in operas and concerts from the early 1950s through the 1980s. She was known for her creation of new roles such as the title role in the Carlisle Floyd opera Susannah, Catherine Earnshaw in Floyd's Wuthering Heights, and in...

, Rudolf Serkin

Rudolf Serkin

Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....

, John Corigliano

John Corigliano

John Corigliano is an American composer of classical music and a teacher of music. He is a distinguished professor of music at Lehman College in the City University of New York.-Biography:...

, Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...

 and many others. William Smith, assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

, conducted the Symphony from 1986 to 1990. In 1995, the Allentown Symphony appointed Diane Wittry as its third music director and conductor.

Schadt String Competition

Established in 1997, the Edwin H. and Leigh W. Schadt String Competition is a national solo string competition run by the Allentown Symphony Orchestra. The competition alternates each year between violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

, cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 and classical guitar

Classical guitar

The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...

. First prize is a $5,000 cash award and a solo concerto

Concerto

A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...

 engagement with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra. The competition is named for, and underwritten by a trust established by Edwin H. Schadt (1910–1994) and Leigh W. Schadt (1904–1996), sons of a wealthy Lehigh Valley grocery wholesaler.

Music Directors

• Diane Wittry (1995–present)
• William Smith (1986–1990)
• Donald Voorhees
  Donald Voorhees
  Donald Voorhees was an American composer and conductor who received an Emmy Award nomination for "Individual Achievements in Music" for his work on the television series, The Bell Telephone Hour.-Career:Starting in 1926, Voorhees' orchestra recorded prolifically for Columbia,...
  
  (1951–1983)