ORCHESTRA
The Grand Rapids Symphony was officially organized in 1930 and is recognized as one of America’s leading regional orchestras. Culminating its 75th Anniversary Season, the Symphony made its debut performance to a full house in New York City’s Carnegie Hall on May 21, 2005. The New York Times wrote, “The orchestra is what it ought to be and gives a glimmer of hope for all of us in the music world.” A two-disc CD recording was made of this performance. “Live! at Carnegie Hall” is for sale at Symphony concerts, along with the Symphony’s most recent recording “Invention & Alchemy.” This DVD and companion CD features Deborah Henson-Conant’s performance with the Symphony during its Pops series in November 2005 was nominated for a 2007 Grammy award for Best Classical Crossover album.
The Symphony's latest recording features the orchestra’s performance of Adolphus Hailstork’s Third Symphony, commissioned by the Grand Rapids Symphony in 2003. The CD, distributed by Naxos, also includes the orchestra’s performance of Hailstork’s Second Symphony.
The Grand Rapids Symphony has an $8.3 million budget and employs 50 salaried and 30 part-time musicians. This past season, more than 100,000 people attended the Symphony’s 80 ticketed concerts and more than 77,000 students, senior citizens and people with disabilities benefited from the Symphony’s extensive education and community service programs.
Eight concert series are provided to the community with performances designed for young children through adults, featuring a wide range of repertoire. These include the Richard and Helen DeVos Classical Series, Fox Motors Pops Series, SymphonicBoom, Rising Stars Series, Edward Jones Coffee Classics, Lollipop concerts sponsored by Target Stores, DTE Energy Foundation Family Series and Chase Picnic Pops. Each year the Symphony also collaborates with the community to bridge cultures by presenting a concert titled “Symphony with Soul” featuring national and local African-American artists. A percentage of the proceeds from this event help to support the Symphony’s “Young, Gifted & Black Scholarship Fund,” created in 2005 through a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support instrumental training for young African-American students in the area.
The Symphony presents concerts in many outlying communities throughout Michigan and is heard on broadcasts by National Public Radio affiliate WBLV/WBLU. In 2003, the Symphony performed in Detroit’s Orchestra Hall as part of inaugural activities for the Max M. Fisher Music Center. In 2000, the orchestra toured Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, giving thousands of people who normally do not have an opportunity to hear an 80-piece orchestra a chance to experience the Grand Rapids Symphony. The orchestra performed at Ferris State University, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Lake Superior State University, Northern Michigan University and at Michigan Technological University, where the Symphony was the premier entertainment for the grand opening of the Rozsa Center for Performing Arts.
The Symphony also sponsors the Symphony Chorus, Grand Rapids Youth Symphony and Classical Orchestra, and provides the orchestra for performances by Opera Grand Rapids and the Grand Rapids Ballet Company.