Johnstown Symphony Orchestra
Just as a civilization can be defined by its arts, so can Johnstown, PA be defined by the cultural opportunities abundant in this region. Key among these offerings is the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, a full instrumental ensemble comprised of nearly 80 musicians from all across Western Pennsylvania.
The Johnstown Symphony Orchestra’s annual concert series consists of seven concerts between the months of October and May, with additional performances each year including an annual fundraising Opera Festival, a Mother’s Day concert, a Young Peoples Concert aimed towards the area’s 5th Grade students, and several choral concerts. For this year’s complete schedule, visit the concert schedule page on the JSO Web site.
“If you were to go across the country to communities the size of Johnstown, finding a symphony orchestra this caliber would be rare,” says Patricia Hofscher, Executive Director of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. “There is a magic that takes ahold in this orchestra on concert night. They are just outstanding.”
Founded in 1929, the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra has been delighting music lovers for generations with performances of the works of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and so many more masters from the classical genre. “Unique to our orchestra is the fact that it grew out of a lot of smaller theatre orchestras from the Johnstown area,” Pat says. “In fact, the Johnstown Ironworks brought workers to the area specifically because they were musicians. These families have since played in the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra generation after generation.”
This year’s performances will be under the direction of Maestro Istvan Jaray, who has been the symphony’s conductor since coming to Johnstown as a guest conductor in 1984.
Regular season concerts begin at 7:30PM are held at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (click here for a map). Tickets are available from the JSO Web site and by calling 814.535.6738.
Pat would like everyone in the Johnstown region to understand that the symphony is nothing to be afraid of. “These concerts are not stuffy. Just sit back and listen to the music and it will send a message without words.”
Learn more by visiting the official Web site of the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Music & Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
