The Akron Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra based in Akron, Ohio . The ASO was founded in 1949. In 2006, the ASO appointed Christopher Wilkins music director. Wilkins has agreed to serve as director through 2021.
8-772: The Akron Symphony Orchestra is operated by the Greater Akron Musical Association (GAMA). The founding of the orchestra dates to 1949, when John Barry, "business manager of the Akron Beacon Journal, present[ed] Mabel Graham with $ 500 to start a symphony orchestra." The first performance of the Akron Symphony Orchestra was on Feb. 24, 1953, in a concert "led by John Francis Farinacci, a high school teacher and band director," at Central-Hower High School . On October 9, 1973, " E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall opened with
16-531: A world premiere by Mexican composer Carlos Chavez " and performed by the Akron Symphony. Past conductors have included Laszlo Krausz (starting in 1954), Louis Lane (starting in 1959), Margaret Hillis (starting 1971; first woman to conduct the Akron Symphony), Alan Balter (starting 1983), Keith Lockhart (starting 1988 as Assistant Conductor; Lockhart later went on to become music director of
24-604: The Boston Pops Orchestra ), and Ya-Hui Wang (starting 2000). Benjamin Zander has guest conducted the Akron Symphony on multiple occasions, including in January 2019 (to conduct Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony), January 2017 (to conduct Beethoven's Ninth Symphony), and February 2008 (to conduct Mahler's Second Symphony). The encore performance of Mahler's Second Symphony by Zander, which occurred on February 10, 2008,
32-562: Was Central-Hower High School, which served the city of Akron from 1970 until its closure at the end of the 2005–06 school year. The Central-Hower building, constructed in 1975, with an auditorium dating from 1923, is owned by the University of Akron , which purchased the property in 2012. The National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM High School was created in 2012 as a special high school with emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Its predecessor, Central-Hower High School,
40-704: Was an officer of the American Cereal Co. and multiple other enterprises. The school began in Perkins Elementary in 1927 and phased out the younger students before becoming accredited in August 1935 as a vocational school. Central and Hower both graduated their last independent classes in 1970. The combined student bodies were housed in Hower while the Central building was demolished and the new one
48-547: Was built. Central-Hower was constructed in 1973 and opened in September 1975. The Hower building was demolished in 1978. Central-Hower closed at the end of the 2005–06 school year and was serving as the temporary facility for the East Community Learning Center until its building was renovated. After that was completed, Central-Hower housed the students from Buchtel High School while its building
56-536: Was created in 1970 when Akron Public Schools combined Central High School with Hower Vocational School into a new building on the site of the Central location. The original Central building on Forge Street opened in 1886 and was initially named Akron High School. It was renamed Central High School in 1911 when the Akron Board of Education opened South High School . Hower Vocational School was named after Milton Otis Hower (1858–1916), an Akron manufacturing leader who
64-635: Was the Akron Symphony Orchestra's debut in Severance Hall . This article about a United States classical music orchestra is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Central-Hower High School The National Inventor's Hall of Fame STEM High School is a public high school in the Akron Public School District . It has served the city of Akron, Ohio , United States since its creation in 2012. Its school colors are turquoise and chrome. Its predecessor
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