Brooklyn Philharmonic

[8] in 1861 the orchestra was conducted once by Johann Strauss II in 1861 who is said to have impulsively snatched a violin from one of the other players to join in during The Blue Danube.

In 1954, the Director of BAM, Julius Bloom, led the incorporation of another new orchestra also known as the "Brooklyn Philharmonia" in concert with noted conductor JM & Siegfried Landau and arts impresario Marks Levin.

[1] Although it sometimes claimed to be "one of the oldest living orchestras in the New World,"[18] it had no organisational connection to the earlier Philharmonic Society of Brooklyn, with which it existed concurrently for almost thirty years.

[20] Robert Spano, the orchestra's next music director, was credited with markedly improving the sound of the group while continuing its focus on unique programming.

[23] In September 2007, the Brooklyn Philharmonic announced the extension of Christie's contract with the orchestra through the 2009–2010 season, with an evergreen clause to allow for yearly renewal.

"[26] Faced with daunting deficits and declining subscribership, as well as with Board retirements and resignations, the organisation was forced to cancel the 2010–11 season entirely.

[26] In 2010, despite these fiscal challenges, the Brooklyn Philharmonic Board and management committed to attempting a rebirth with the hiring of conductor Alan Pierson[27] as Artistic and music director.

Pierson is a founder of the highly regarded ensemble Alarm Will Sound[28] and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology[29] and the Eastman School of Music.

[34] In spite of the Brooklyn Philharmonic's popular and critical success in its two seasons under Pierson, the orchestra was unsuccessful in attracting donor and institutional funding sufficient to maintain its business model.

[40] In addition to performing classical standards, the Brooklyn Philharmonic commissioned an sixty-five new works from living composers as well, and debuted a hundred and sixty-six world premieres.

[41] Guest performers with the Brooklyn Philharmonic have, among others, included Yehudi Menuhin, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Itzhak Perlman, Lorin Maazel, Peter Serkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Jessye Norman, Robert Merrill, Alicia de Larrocha, James Galway, Victoria de Los Angeles, Roberta Peters, Claudio Arrau, Richard Stoltzman, Leonard Rose, Byron Janis, Laurie Anderson, Elvis Costello, Lynn Harrell, Tania León, Yasiin Bey, Erykah Badu and André Watts.

During the tenure of Executive Director Gregg Gustafson, the Brooklyn Philharmonic appeared multiple times on the television show Late Night with David Letterman.

[61] The Philharmonic's "Smart Arts Academy",[62] to cite one example, provided free daily music, arts, dance, theater, sports, movie making, and enrichment activities to about 250 students per school annually totaling some 6,000 students from New York's most financially challenged public schools.

"[69] Harvey Lichtenstein, then director of BAM and the driving force in the 1990 agreement, asserted, "basically, I think the institution has to stand on its own two feet, artistically, financially and administratively.