The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is a major American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule Robert Spano has been their music director since 2001. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Robert Spano (born May 7, 1961, Conneaut

The orchestra was founded in 1945, and played its first concert as the Atlanta Youth Symphony under the direction of Henry Sopkin, a Chicago music educator who remained its Conductor until 1966. The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra ( ASO) is an American Orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The organization changed to its current name in 1947, and soon began attracting well known soloists such as Isaac Stern and Glenn Gould. Isaac Stern ( July 21, 1920 &ndash September 22, 2001) was an American Violin Virtuoso. Glenn Herbert Gould At a young age he reportedly behaved differently from typical children at the piano he would strike single notes and listen to their long decay In 1967, with the departure of Sopkin, Robert Shaw (founder of the Robert Shaw Chorale) became the conductor, and a year later the orchestra turned full-time. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Robert Shaw ( April 30, 1916 – January 25 The Robert Shaw Chorale was a professional chorus founded in New York City in 1948 by Robert Shaw, a Californian who had been drafted out of college a decade earlier In 1970, Shaw founded a choir specially for the orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. For the musical composition see Chorale. A choir, chorale, or chorus is a Musical ensemble of Singers In 1988, Yoel Levi became Music Director and principal conductor. Yoel Levi (1950&mdash is a musician and conductor. Born in Romania, he grew up in Israel. Under him, the orchestra played at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. A century (from the Latin centum, meaning one hundred is One hundred consecutive Years Centuries are numbered ordinally (e The 1996 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, were an International Levi became Music Director Emeritus in 2000, and was succeeded as Music Director by Robert Spano. Emeritus (ɨˈmɛrɨtəs is an Adjective that is used in the title of a retired Professor, Bishop or other professional

The ASO and chorus made its first recording, a 2-LP Christmas album entitled Nativity, for Turnabout/Vox Records in 1975, under the directorship of Robert Shaw. VOX Records is a budget classical Record label founded by George Mendelssohn a distant descendant of the composer Felix Mendelssohn, in 1945 This was an album directly based on their annual Christmas concert. In 1978, the ASO became the first American orchestra to make a digital recording intended for commercial release, when it played Igor Stravinsky's Firebird suite and excerpts from Alexander Borodin's opera, Prince Igor for the Telarc label. In digital recording, the analog signal of Video or Sound is converted into a stream of Discrete numbers representing the changes in Air Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) ( &ndash 6 April 1971 was a Russian born Composer, considered by many to The Firebird ( French: L'Oiseau de feu; Russian: Жар-птица Žar-ptica) is a 1910 ballet by Igor Stravinsky Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (Александр Порфирьевич Бородин Aleksandr Porfir'evič Borodin) ( &ndash) was a Russian Composer Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Prince Igor ( Князь Игорь, Knyaz' Igor) is an Opera by Alexander Borodin, written in four acts with a prologue Telarc International Corporation is an Independent record label, based in Cleveland Ohio, United States, and founded in 1977 by two classically As of 2007, the orchestra and chorus still record for Telarc, one of the longest continuous associations of an orchestra with a record label. In 2004, the orchestra initiated an agreement with the Deutsche Grammophon label to record several works by composer Osvaldo Golijov, while continuing its ongoing relationship with Telarc which has resulted in numerous Grammy awards. Osvaldo Noé Golijov (born in La Plata, Argentina, December 5, 1960) is a Grammy award winning Composer of classical The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

One of the orchestra and chorus's most famous recordings, however, that of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Robert Shaw, was recorded for the now defunct Pro Arte label, and sadly, is not only now out of print, but has not been picked up for re-release by Telarc or any other label. The Symphony No 9 in D minor Op 125 "Choral" is the last complete Symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven.

The orchestra toured Europe under Yoel Levi in 1991; and with its chorus, under Robert Shaw, in 1988. In 2003, the ASOC visited Berlin, where it gave three performances of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under ASO Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles. Edward Benjamin Britten Baron Britten, OM CH (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976 was an English Composer, conductor, The War Requiem, Op 66 is a large-scale non- liturgical setting of the Requiem Mass composed by Benjamin Britten in 1962 The Berlin Philharmonic (in German: Die Berliner Philharmoniker) is an Orchestra based in Berlin, Germany.

The Woodruff Arts Center

The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. Atlanta Symphony Hall is the home venue of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Woodruff Arts Center is the largest arts center in the Southeast as well as one of the largest in the United States It plays an extensive outdoor summer pops concert series at Atlanta's city-owned Chastain Park, and at other parks in the area. Chastain Park is the largest park in Atlanta Georgia. It is a 268 acre park located near the northern edge of the city In February 2005 the orchestra unveiled plans for the new Atlanta Symphony Center concert hall designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, to be built subject to raising construction funds of approximately US$300 million. Symphony Center is a proposed Concert hall in Atlanta Georgia that would be the new home of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. A concert hall is a cultural building which serves as performance venue chiefly for classical instrumental music An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction Santiago Calatrava Valls (born July 28, 1951) is an internationally recognized and award-winning Valencian Spanish Architect, In 2007, the ASO broke ground for the new US$35 million 12,000-seat outdoor Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in north Fulton County in the town of Alpharetta, some 25 miles north of Atlanta. Encore Park and the Amphitheatre will be owned by the Woodruff Arts Center, the ASO's parent organization; they are scheduled to open in May 2008. With a budget expected to increase to US$50 million with the completion of its new Amphitheatre, the ASO will become one of the six or seven largest orchestras in America, by budget size. The ASO's budget includes not only the costs of production, along with orchestra and staff salaries and benefits, but also the symphony's very significant expenditures on education, community outreach, special events and fundraising. With the addition of Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre while continuing its activities at Atlanta Symphony Hall and Chastain Park, the ASO will present more than 300 performances annually.

Music directors

• Robert Spano (Music Director, 2001- )
• Yoel Levi (Music Director, 1988-2000; Music Director Emeritus, 2000-2005)
• Robert Shaw (Music Director and Conductor, 1967-1988; Music Director Emeritus and Conductor Laureate, 1988-1999)
• Henry Sopkin (Conductor, 1945-1966)

References

External links

• Atlanta Symphony Orchestra official site
• Discography of ASO recordings
• Atlanta Symphony Center official site
• Woodruff Arts Center official site
• Telarc official site
• ASO Chorus official site
• Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks
• entry in New Georgia Encyclopedia