New York Philharmonic Orchestra   

The New York Philharmonic, an indisputable giant among the world's orchestras, is the oldest symphony organization in the United States.

Though amateur orchestras had cropped up in New York in the eighteenth century, none proved durable. On April 2, 1842, however, Ureli Corelli Hill called the first organizational meeting of the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York, planting the seeds of the New York Philharmonic. The organization was a cooperative, to which the players paid dues and then shared profits. The Philharmonic Society commenced its inaugural season on December 7, 1842, with 50 players and a first-year schedule of four concerts.

By 1867, the size of the orchestra had grown to 100 players, and in that year the ensemble moved to the Academy of Music. By the late nineteenth century, the Philharmonic Society was only one among a number of orchestras in New York. In 1867, Theodore Thomas founded his own orchestra, which remained in existence until 1891. In 1878 Leopold Damrosch established the New York Symphony, which was the favorite among upper-crust New Yorkers, and which was chosen to open Carnegie Hall in 1891. The Philharmonic Society also faced competition from the Boston Symphony, which from 1887 gave regular New York concerts (and still does).

In 1909 the Philharmonic was reconstituted, at last becoming a full-time professional organization; the players were now employees. Under this new arrangement, renowned German composer/conductor Gustav Mahler became the new ensemble's first music director, a post he held until 1911. In 1921 the orchestra combined forces with the still-wet-behind-the-ears New/National Symphony Orchestra, marking the beginning of a series of "takeovers" that continually strengthened the group's performing forces. In 1927, the Philharmonic merged with Damrosch's New York Symphony Society (now conducted by the founder's son, Walter Damrosch). The new organization emerged as the Philharmonic-Symphony Society Orchestra of New York and is today known as the New York Philharmonic.

In 1922, the Philharmonic became the first major orchestra to broadcast live on the radio; today it is the only American orchestra with a regular live national radio network. The ensemble has recorded extensively, and its roster of recording-era conductors and music directors is indeed stellar: among others, Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Pierre Boulez, and Zubin Mehta shepherded the orchestra to ever greater heights. The most spectacular of the Philharmonic's music directors was Leonard Bernstein, who led the group from 1958 to 1969 and maintained a lifetime relationship with the orchestra after his tenure. Bernstein's televised Young People's Concerts and hundreds of recordings with the orchestra did more to establish the Philharmonic's worldwide "brand identification" than any public relations firm could have achieved. Bernstein also oversaw the orchestra's change of homes from Carnegie Hall to Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall). The Philharmonic's music director from 1991 to 2002, Kurt Masur, restored the orchestra to the highest technical level and specialized in the classic European repertory, while occasionally presenting the new and unusual. In the 2002-2003 season, Lorin Maazel became music director. He was in the later stages of his career, and jockeying for the chance to succeed him in this choicest of all American plum posts began soon after he was named.

© Joseph Stevenson, All Music Guide

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The New York Philharmonic, founded in 1842 by a group of local musicians led by American-born Ureli Corelli Hill, is by far the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States, and one of the oldest in the world. It currently plays some 180 concerts a year, and on December 18, 2004, gave its 14,000th concert — a milestone unmatched by any other symphony orchestra in the world.

Lorin Maazel began his tenure as Music Director in September 2002, the latest in a distinguished line of 20th-century musical giants that has included Kurt Masur (Music Director from 1991 to the summer of 2002; named Music Director Emeritus in 2002); Zubin Mehta (1978–91); Pierre Boulez (1971–77); and Leonard Bernstein, who was appointed Music Director in 1958 and given the lifetime title of Laureate Conductor in 1969. In September 2009 Alan Gilbert will become the Orchestra's next Music Director.

Since its inception the Orchestra has championed the new music of its time, commissioning or premiering many important works, such as Dvorák's Symphony No. 9, From the New World; Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3; Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F; and Copland's Connotations. The Philharmonic has also given the U.S. premieres of works such as Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 and Brahms's Symphony No. 4. This pioneering tradition has continued to the present day, with works of major contemporary composers regularly scheduled each season, including John Adams's Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning On the Transmigration of Souls; Stephen Hartke's Symphony No. 3; Augusta Read Thomas's Gathering Paradise, Emily Dickinson Settings for Soprano and Orchestra; and Esa-Pekka Salonen's Piano Concerto.

The roster of composers and conductors who have led the Philharmonic includes such historic figures as Theodore Thomas, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Antonín Dvorák, Gustav Mahler (Music Director, 1909–11), Otto Klemperer, Richard Strauss, Willem Mengelberg (Music Director, 1922–30), Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini (Music Director, 1928–36), Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Bruno Walter (Music Advisor, 1947–49), Dimitri Mitropoulos (Music Director, 1949–58), Klaus Tennstedt, George Szell (Music Advisor, 1969–70), and Erich Leinsdorf.

Long a leader in American musical life, the Philharmonic has over the last century become renowned around the globe, appearing in 422 cities in 59 countries on five continents. In February 2008 the Orchestra, led by Music Director Lorin Maazel, gave a historic performance in Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — the first visit there by an American orchestra, and an event watched around the world and for which the Philharmonic received the 2008 Common Ground Award for Cultural Diplomacy. Other historic tours have included the 1930 Tour to Europe, with Toscanini; the first Tour to the USSR, in 1959; the 1998 Asia Tour, the first performances in mainland China; and the 75th Anniversary European Tour, in 2005, with Lorin Maazel.

A longtime media pioneer, the Philharmonic began radio broadcasts in 1922 and is currently represented by The New York Philharmonic This Week — syndicated nationally 52 weeks per year, and available on nyphil.org and XM Satellite Radio. The Orchestra’s concerts are also broadcast throughout Europe on BBC Radio 3. On television, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Philharmonic inspired a generation through Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts on CBS. Its television presence has continued with annual appearances on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS, and in 2003 it made history as the first Orchestra ever to perform live on the Grammy Awards, one of the most-watched television events worldwide. More recently, the Philharmonic became the first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live, and released by DG Concerts. Since 1917 the Philharmonic has made nearly 2,000 recordings, with more than 500 currently available.

On June 4, 2007, the New York Philharmonic proudly announced a new partnership with Credit Suisse, its first-ever and exclusive Global Sponsor.