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The
Florida State University Orchestral Studies Program has
enjoyed a long and illustrious history. The Florida State
College Orchestra was formed in 1925 by violin professor
Ethel Maud and in 1947, with the change from a college
for women to a co-educational university, the College
Orchestra became know as the University Symphony under
the leadership of Robert Sedore. In 1949, Karl Kuersteiner
formed the State Symphony of Florida, the predecessor
of the FSU Chamber Orchestra. From 1967 until 1971 the
Chamber Orcjestra was led by former Boston Symphony Orchestra
associate conductor, Richard Burgin. In 1972 Phillip Spurgeon
became Director of Orchestral Activities, a position he
held until his retirement in 2003. Since that time, FSU's
orchestral program saw dramatic growth artistically and
in scope. In 2000, the University Philharmonia was created
under the direction of Alexander Jiménez.
Guest artists
who have appeared with the University Orchestras over
the years have included many of the world's best known.
Among them have been singers Lauritz Melchoir, Lawrence
Tibbett, and Denyce Graves; composers and conductors
Aaron Copland, Krystof Penderecki, Robert Shaw, Robert
Spano, Michael Stern, Pablo Casals; and instrumentalists
Joshua Bell, André Watts, the Kalichstein-Robinson-Laredo
Trio, Billy Taylor, and the Canadian Brass. In January
of 1975, Professor Spurgeon led the University Symphony
in a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
as a part of its Schoenberg-Ives Celebration. In 1991
the Chamber Orchestra presented a concert at New York's
Lincoln Center during the Mozart Bicentennial Celebration.
Recently, the USO completed a recording project of concerti
by Ellen Taafe Zwilich on the Koch label
with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, and in 2002
the University Philharmonia performed the world-premiere
of Jeff Beal’s score to accompany the great silent
film classic, The General,
as part of FSU's Seven Days of Opening Nights
Festival.
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