The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO) is a fully professional musical group in Dayton, Ohio

Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...

, formed in 1933. It is a member of the League of American Orchestras

League of American Orchestras

The League of American Orchestras, known until Fall 2007 as the American Symphony Orchestra League , is an association of U.S. and Canadian orchestras. Over 950 orchestras are members, including youth, community, and professional orchestras....

 (LAO) and the Regional Orchestra Players' Association (ROPA), and presents programs mainly of classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

, but also occasionally performs world music

World music

World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

, pops, jazz and rock-n-roll.

Between September and May each year, the orchestra performs about 9 full-orchestra concert series, 4 chamber orchestra series, 4 operas with the Dayton Opera

Dayton Opera

Dayton Opera is an American opera company based in Dayton, Ohio. The company makes its home at the Schuster Center in downtown Dayton where it annually produces three operas and an operatic concert and has an annual budget of approximately $2 million...

, 3 light family concerts, 4 Young People's Concerts, 6 SuperPops series, and several concerts for special occasions.

Recognition

The Dayton Philharmonic has received the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music seven times; and has gained special recognition for its educational and community outreach programs, serving 90,000 children in fourteen counties — more children than any other orchestra of their budget size in the United States.

History

The DPO has been housed in the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center

Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center

The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center is located in Dayton, Ohio and was built in 2003 to serve as Dayton's key performance arts center. This building hosts performances from local, national, and international performing arts groups...

 since 2003. Prior to that, the orchestra played concerts at Montgomery County's Memorial Hall

Memorial Hall (Dayton, Ohio)

Memorial Hall is a historic structure, located at 125 East First Street, in Dayton, Ohio.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 14, 1988.-External links:*...

, the Dayton Convention Center, and the Victoria Theatre

Victoria Theatre (Dayton, Ohio)

The Victoria Theatre is a historic 1,154-seat performing arts venue located in downtown Dayton, Ohio, USA.-History:The Victoria, one of the oldest continually operated theaters on the continent, was opened to the public as the Turner Opera House on New Year's Day, 1866, at a cost of $225,000...

. The orchestra has been led by Musical Director Neal Gittleman since 1995.

Conductors

• 1933-1975 - Paul Katz
• 1975-1987 - Charles Wendelken-Wilson
• 1987-1994 - Isaiah Jackson
• 1994-present - Neal Gittleman

Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra

The youth orchestra, originally founded as the "Training Orchestra", is an instructional orchestra with competitive auditions open to students in grades 9 to 12. The youth orchestra gives several performances a year and has occasionally featured presentations with professional entertainers such as Sesame Street

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

's Bob McGrath

Bob McGrath

Robert Emmet "Bob" McGrath is an American singer and actor best known for playing the human character Bob on Sesame Street. He was born in Ottawa, Illinois. McGrath was named for Irish patriot Robert Emmet....

. The youth orchestra rehearses weekly during the school year at the University of Dayton's Reichard Hall..

Conductors

• 1937-1941 - Paul Katz
• 1941-1968 - Marjorie Kline
• 1968-1976 - Jaroslav Holesovsky
• 1976-1978 - Ken Miller
• 1978-1995 - William J. Steinohrt
• 1995-1999 - Peter Ciaschini
• 2000-present - Patrick Reynolds

Dayton Philharmonic Junior String Orchestra

The junior strings orchestra is open for competitive audition for students of string instruments in grades 6 - 12.

Conductors

• 1982-1991 - William R. Scutt
• 1991-1998 - Xiao-Guang Zhu
• 1998-2009 - Karen Young
• 2009-present - Betsey Hofeldt