|
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia.
The orchestra was founded in 1945, and played its first concert as the Atlanta Youth Symphony. Henry Sopkin was brought in as music director (he remained with the orchestra for twenty years) and the organization changed to its current name in 1947. It soon managed to attract well known soloists to play with it such as Isaac Stern and Glenn Gould.
In 1967, with the departure of Sopkin, Robert Shaw (founder of the Robert Shaw Chorale) was brought in as conductor, and a year later the orchestra turned full- time. Shaw founded a choir specially for the orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus. In 2004 the chorus visited Berlin, where it gave three performances with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under ASO Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles.
In 1978, the ASO became the first American orchestra to make a commercial digital recording, when it played Igor Stravinsky's Firebird suite and excerpts from Alexander Borodin's opera, Prince Igor.
In 1988, Yoel Levi became Music Director and principal conductor. Under him, the orchestra played at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Centennial 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He became Music Director Emeritus in 2000, and was succeeded as Music Director and principal conductor by Robert Spano.
The ASO's main venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. It plays an extensive outdoor summer Pops concert series at Chastain Park, and often plays at other parks in the area. The orchestra toured Europe, with its chorus, under Robert Shaw in 1988, and alone under Yoel Levi in 1991.
External link
| 
