The organization has been greatly strengthened by an extensive level of communication and involvement with its musicians that has become a national model for orchestral governance.

To the Hartford Symphony, being a part of the Federal Music Project meant they could pay musicians higher wages and charge a moderate admission of 25¢.

However, the Hartford Symphony continued to bring in revenue by cleverly charging each patron 10¢ to rent a seat for summer concerts.

Looking for complete artistic control over the orchestra, the Hartford Symphony pulled out of the FMP in 1938 in order to hire conductor Leon Barzin as the new music director.

In an effort to raise community spirits, the following year the City of Hartford funded five successful summer concerts with guest conductor George Heck at the podium.

By this time, World War II had swept through Europe, and by the fall of 1941 nearly all of the Hartford Symphony’s musicians had taken leave to join the armed forces.

In an unprecedented action, Hartford’s musicians’ union agreed to perform for free for one year in an effort to get the Symphony up and running again.

After the first $10,000 installment in 1948, the HSO was finally able to open official administrative offices in the first floor of the Old State House, and, more importantly, was able to pay the musicians scale wages.

It was noted this year that the orchestra played better than ever before; it seemed that musicians and audience members alike had a renewed interest in keeping the Hartford Symphony in business.

concerts, and a program entitled “Theater in the Dance,” featuring the José Limón Dancers with Pauline Koner (Mrs. Fritz Mahler) as a soloist.

After hearing the piece for the first time, audiences jumped to their feet with standing ovations and the local papers overflowed with excellent reviews.

Insisting that they would be able to provide better programming if more funds were available, Goodwin initiated a new fundraising campaign, headed by former Symphony president Albert Holland.

After conducting a wide-sweeping national search, they picked Arthur Winograd, the founding cellist of the Juilliard Quartet, to be the Symphony’s new music director.

The orchestra’s intonation is excellent and its tone correspondingly luminous…the high level of performance that evening was a constant delight.” Despite the fantastic successes of the 1960s, the Hartford Symphony was listed by the New York Times as one of 12 American orchestras in serious financial “danger.” The HSO had experienced great ticket sales and generous donations during the 1960s, but operating costs were high and financial failure was imminent once again.

At the end of 1971, the Symphony was $140,000 short of the one million dollar requirement, even though Ford’s award money had been built into future budgets.

At the last minute, Symphony supporters Francis Goodwin and Harry Robinson each donated $70,000 to the HSO, allowing the orchestra to meet its goal and continue to provide classical music to the City of Hartford.

These years also brought in the world’s most celebrated soloists, including Benny Goodman, Mitch Miller, Isaac Stern, Leon Fleisher, a young André Watts, Itzhak Perlman, Van Cliburn, Ella Fitzgerald, and a 19-year-old Yo-Yo Ma.

After a year of stunning performances of works by De Falla, Bartók, Shostakovich, and Berlioz, and incredible guest artists including cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, Winograd handed off his baton.

Lankester brought in a new wave of interesting guest artists and adventurous programming, including pianist Horatio Guttierez and 13-year-old violinist Midori, as well as performances of works by Britten, Ives, Rorem, and Harbison.

Lankester set a new programming standard, pairing modern, avant-garde music by composers like Martinu, Walton, and Kolb with more traditional works, including Verdi’s Requiem.

[5] All performances came to a grinding halt during an 11-week impasse; at the end of the year the HSO finally negotiated new contracts where the work schedule became much more reasonable.

The HSO opened the 1997–98 season with a Masterworks concert featuring Stravinsky’s oratorio, Oedipus Rex, with a massive choir and a theatrical stage set.

This year’s guest artist roster included pianists Leon Fleisher and Garrick Ohlsson, cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, and actor Christopher Plummer.

To celebrate the retirement of their music director, the symphony invited some of the greatest artists of the time to perform, including Yo-Yo Ma, Yefim Bronfman, Marvin Hamlisch, Krystof Penderecki, Ute Lemper, and Captain Kangaroo.

At the close of this tumultuous decade, the symphony turned an eye to the future and began the search for the new leader of Connecticut’s orchestra.

In addition, the orchestra was invited for the first time to tour with the popular tenor Andrea Bocelli; together they performed 15 concerts in cities across North America.

With this in mind, the Symphony embarked on a mission to connect with the immediate community of Hartford, starting with a Martin Luther King Jr.

In January 2011, the HSO announced that Carolyn Kuan, formerly of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, would be the next music director,[14] starting from the 2012 season.

From there, the HSO launched a series of new community initiatives, including CityMusic, an El Sistema inspired after school music program in Hartford.

Through a combination of accessible and innovative, community-based programming, the HSO's concert attendance reached a ten-year high point, bringing in new and younger audience members.