Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra - History

History

The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1944. It has been part of the city's musical heritage continuously since its debut on October 18, 1944, at the Palace Theatre. The first music director was Hans Schwieger, born in Germany in 1907, who died in October 2000. Under Schwieger's direction, the orchestra dramatically expanded its concert programming in the 1945–1946 season, presenting 14 programs with pianist William Kapell, violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and tenor Mario Lanza among the guest artists. A 1946 concert devoted to Verdi's Requiem featured soloists from the Metropolitan Opera and a 200-voice chorus, as Time reported. In 1948, Schweiger became music director of the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra (which was dissolved in 1982) and made numerous recordings with them and other orchestras.

In the summer of 1948, Igor Buketoff became the orchestra's second music director. He made numerous recordings and was known for his educational work. He was particularly known for his performances of Russian music, especially Rachmaninoff.

During the 1966–67 season, the orchestra had guest conductors. Then James Sample became music director, serving from 1967 to 1970. Sample, who died in 1995, was followed by Thomas Briccetti, from 1970 to 1977. Briccetti died on May 27, 1999. Once again, there were guest conductors during the 1977–78 season.

From 1978 to 1993, the orchestra's music director was Ronald Ondrejka, who had previously served as music director of the Monterey Symphony Orchestra (1960–61), assistant conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (1961–63) under Josef Krips, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra. Ondrejka, who frequently programmed American music, was also the head of the conducting program at the University of California at Santa Barbara in the 1970s. During Ondrejka's final season, 1992–1993, the orchestra "auditioned" candidates for the next music director, including Edvard Tchivzhel, who was picked as Ondrejka's successor. Tchivzhel left the Philharmonic at the end of 2007–08 season. Guest conductors, most of whom were candidates for the next music director, led the orchestra during the 2008–09 season. The board chose Andrew Constantine to take over as music director, beginning with the 2009–10 season.

Contemporary composers who have visited Fort Wayne to have their works performed by the orchestra include Charles Wuorinen, Stephen Paulus, David Ott, Karel Husa, Benjamin Lees, Michael Schelle, David Crowe, and Libby Larsen.

The executive directors of the organization have included Peter Smith (1976–1985), Christopher D. Guerin (1985–2005), Daniel Ross (interim, 2005–2006), and J.L. Nave (2006–present).

Over the years, the Philharmonic has performed with many renowned pop artists, including Lionel Hampton, The Beach Boys, Boots Randolph, The Manhattan Transfer, Johnny Mathis, Chet Atkins, Leo Kottke, The Moody Blues, Mel Torme, Ramsey Lewis, The 5th Dimension, Art Garfunkel, B. J. Thomas, Toni Tennille, Benny Goodman, Skitch Henderson, Burt Bacharach, Ben Folds, Aretha Franklin, Doc Severinsen, The Smothers Brothers, Henry Mancini, Pete Fountain, and Air Supply.