New Haven Symphony Orchestra

The original members of the NHSO were mainly German-Americans seeking to continue the orchestral traditions of their native country in the United States, where classical music was less appreciated at the time.

The first performance of the NHSO took place January 25, 1895 at a now-defunct theater on Chapel Street in New Haven near the present-day Union League Café.

The program included works by Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Schubert, as well as two solos performed by Isidore Troostwyk, a Dutch-born violinist who had recently arrived as a Professor of Music at Yale.

Additionally, the orchestra plays at houses of worship, schools, businesses, parks, festivals, and social service organizations across the city all year round.

Some of the most memorable names include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Joshua Bell, Van Cliburn, Renée Fleming, James Galway, Glenn Gould, Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman, Itzhak Perlman, Mstislav Rostropovich, Artur Rubinstein, Emanuel Ax, Gil Shaham, and Pinchas Zukerman.

Such notables as Dave Brubeck, Arthur Fiedler, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Wynton Marsalis, Buddy Rich, Ray Charles, Artie Shaw, and Sarah Vaughan have delighted audiences onstage with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

[citation needed] The NHSO expanded its Harmony Fellowship for Underrepresented Musicians, funded by the Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation through the League of American Orchestras to include Conducting, Administrative, and Board Fellows bringing increased diversity to all areas of the Symphony.

The “Creating Musical Readers” initiative, geared towards Pre-K to 2nd grade students, highlights instruments from each of the four families of the orchestra in the context of literacy activities, and is performed at schools, community centers, libraries, and the Connecticut Children’s Museum.