The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra is a professional orchestra based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The orchestra's music director is Edvard Tchivzhel (born 1944), a native of Russia. The assistant conductor is Bradley Thachuk, a native of Canada. The orchestra performs mainly in the historic Embassy Centre and the Arts United Center. Nickname: The Summit City Location in the state of Indiana, USA Coordinates: Country United States State Indiana County Allen Founded October 22, 1794 Incorporated February 22, 1840 Mayor Graham Richard (D) City Clerk Sandra Kennedy (D) City Council John N. Crawford (R) Samuel J. Talarico, Jr (R) John Shoaff (D...

History

The orchestra was founded in 1944. It has been part of the city's musical heritage continuously since its debut in October 1944, and dramatically expanded its concert programming in the 1945-1946 season, presenting 14 programs with pianist William Kapell, violinist Yehudi Menuhin and tenor Mario Lanza among the guest artists. Over the years, the Philharmonic has performed with many renowned pop artists, including Benny Goodman, Skitch Henderson, Burt Bacharach, Aretha Franklin, Doc Severinsen, The Smothers Brothers, Henry Mancini, Pete Fountain, and Air Supply. William Kapell (September 20, 1922–October 29, 1953) was a American pianist. ... Yehudi Menuhin album cover Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE (April 22, 1916 – March 12, 1999) was a Jewish-born, American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom and eventually became a British citizen. ... Lanza in The Toast of New Orleans Mario Lanza (31 January 1921 – 7 October 1959) was an Italian-American tenor and Hollywood movie star who enjoyed success in the 1950s. ... Benny Goodman, born Benő Guttman, (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz musician, known as King of Swing, Patriarch of the Clarinet, The Professor, and Swings Senior Statesman. // Goodman was born in Chicago, the ninth of twelve children of poor Jewish immigrants from Hungary who lived... Skitch Henderson (born Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson, January 27, 1918; died November 1, 2005, New Milford, Connecticut) was a British-born American pianist, conductor, and composer. ... Burt Bacharach (IPA: , born May 12, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an award-winning American pianist and composer. ... Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American gospel, soul and R&B singer born in Memphis, Tennessee, but raised in Detroit, Michigan. ... Carl Hilding Doc Severinsen (born July 7, 1927 in Arlington, Oregon) is an American pop and jazz trumpeter, most known for leading the Tonight Show Band in the Johnny Carson era. ... The Smothers Brothers are an American music-and-comedy team, formed by real-life brothers Tom Smothers (born 1937) and Dick Smothers (born 1939). ... Henry Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994), was a noted American composer and arranger. ... Pete Fountain (born July 3, 1930) is a New Orleans clarinetist. ... Air Supply The cover of Air Supplys Lost in Love album, 1980 — left to right — Russell Hitchcock, Ralph Cooper, Cristin Barker, David Moyse, Graham Russell Air Supply is a duo of pop musicians who had a succession of soft-rock ballad hits worldwide through the late 1970s and early...

The Orchestra Today

Today, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic carries on its musical tradition under the direction of Edvard Tchivzhel. Its 480 orchestra and chamber ensemble performances are attended by more than 220,000 people. Since 1980 the orchestra has won five awards for adventuresome programming" from ASCAP, the American Society of composers, Authors and Publishers. In addition, its Education Programs are created to inspire the love of classical music in people of all ages. The Fort Wayne Philharmonic Chorus, directed by Robert Nance, participates in several concerts each year.

The current season runs from September through May. Concerts are divided into several categories:

• Masterworks or Grand Series - devoted to major orchestral works, sometimes with instrumental and/or vocal soloists, usually at the Embassy Centre.

• Spectrum Series - devoted to works for chamber orchestra, sometimes with soloists drawn from orchestra principals, usually held at the Arts United Center, featuring narration by the conductor.

• Pops Concerts - devoted to light works, often featuring guest soloists and/or conductors, usually held at the Embassy Centre.

• "Unplugged" Concerts - very informal, "bargain" concerts with the musicians informally dressed, usually held at the Arts United Center, with narration by the conductor.

• Freimann Series - chamber music concerts featuring principal players of the Philharmonic, held in various venues.

Broadcasts and Recordings

The Masterworks/Grand and Spectrum concerts are usually taped for broadcast on Fort Wayne's WBNI.

Edvard Tchivzhel and the Philharmonic recorded a commercial CD at the Honeywell Center in Wabash, which includes Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 and Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Don Juan. Wabash may refer to multiple places in the United States of America: Wabash, Indiana Wabash County, Illinois Wabash County, Indiana Wabash may also refer to: Wabash and Erie Canal Wabash College, a college in Crawfordsville, Indiana, U.S.A. Wabash River, a tributary of the Ohio River in the U... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский, sometimes transliterated as Piotr, Anglicised as Peter Ilich), (May 7, 1840 – November 6, 1893 (N.S.); April 25, 1840 – October... Richard Strauss Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ...

Sources

• Fort Wayne Philharmonic website
• Fort Wayne Philharmonic brochures
• Eyewitness accounts by Robert E. Nylund
• WBNI broadcasts