The History of the Philharmonic Association
History
Artistic Staff
PA Board Presidents

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History

In early 1988, thirty-five high school age musicians from around the Triangle decided to form a Symphony Orchestra. They invited Hugh Partridge, Principal Violist of the North Carolina Symphony to be their conductor and to help them organize their orchestra. Their first concert as the Triangle Youth Philharmonic (TYP) was performed on May 22nd 1988. It was a grand success and the musicians and their parents quickly formed the Philharmonic Association Inc. (PA) to sponsor the goals of the young musicians. TYP rapidly grew to a full symphony orchestra. By the mid 1990’s, the tremendous growth in its orchestra program required the PA to form a second orchestra. In 1995 the Triangle Youth Symphony (TYS) was formed and by 2000 a third ensemble was begun, the Triangle Youth Orchestra (TYO). The PA has continued to respond to the needs of young musicians in our community, adding a new select jazz group in 2005, the Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble (TYJE). The PA's newest orchestra, Triangle Youth String Orchestra (TYSO) was added in 2009 and has been expanded into two ensembles in 2010. From one orchestra of 35 in 1988, the PA has grown to four orchestras and a jazz ensemble serving 350 talented young musicians a year. It has given nearly 2000 aspiring public school aged musicians an opportunity to perform over 400 of the world’s greatest classical works and eleven world premieres. Many of its members have also had the opportunity to appear as soloists and conductors. The Philharmonic Association was presented with the 2011 Business Support of the Arts Award in the Arts Education category by the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County and was cited for ’extraordinary commitment to improving education through the arts since 1988’. Because of numerous positive reviews written by participants, parents, and music professionals, the PA made the Top-Rated Arts Nonprofits 2011 list on the Great Nonprofits website.

Over its history, the PA has enjoyed the support of the North Carolina Symphony’s artistic staff. The young musicians of the PA have been privileged to perform under many of the conductors of the North Carolina Symphony. In 1993, TYP performed Wagner's Rienzi Overture under the direction of North Carolina Symphony Artistic Director, Gerhardt Zimmermann. TYP performed on a North Carolina Symphony Young People's Concert directed by Jackson Parkhurst in 1994 and was conducted by Michael Jimbo, North Carolina Symphony Assistant Conductor, in the finale of Dvorak's Symphony No. 8. North Carolina Symphony Associate Conductor, William Henry Curry, led TYP in the North Carolina Premier of his composition ;Eulogy in 1997. In 2000, Mr. Curry again led TYP in Still's Fanfare for American Heroes and provided the narration for Copland's A Lincoln Portrait. That same year, Maestro Zimmermann conducted TYS in a performance of Sibelius' Finlandia. In 2006, TYP performed Elgar's Enigma Variations with the North Carolina Symphony's Music Director, Grant Llewellyn. Maestro Llewellyn returned in 2008 to conduct Vaughan Williams A London Symphony. NCS Assistant Conductor, Joan Landry, conducted TYS in the finale of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony in Spring of 2009. Since 1988, young musicians of the PA have had the annual opportunity to work with numerous members of the Symphony as coaches and adjudicators. The North Carolina Symphony began funding the 21 coaches used for sectional rehearsals for our three orchestras in the spring of 2008. With these close ties it naturally followed that in 1993 The Triangle Youth Philharmonic became the official youth orchestra of the North Carolina Symphony.

Over the years, musicians in PA orchestras have been enriched by the collaboration with other arts and community organizations. From 1993 - 1998, TYP performed an annual North Carolina Bach Festival concert. Two of these concerts were in combination with The Raleigh Boychoir. In 1996, 1997, and 1999, the PA joined forces with the Town of Cary, presenting innovative children's concerts in which members of the audience could sit within the orchestra. The PA also provided music for the ground breaking of the Town's facility for the NCSO at Regency Park. Perhaps the most memorable collaboration has been through Sister Cities of Raleigh. In 1994, the PA hosted The City of Hull Youth Symphony Orchestra (Raleigh's Sister City in the UK) in a combined concert in Memorial Auditorium. In 1995 and 2000, members of the Triangle Youth Philharmonic and Triangle Youth Symphony traveled to the UK and represented Raleigh in joint concerts in Hull. The 2000 trip followed the footsteps of Felix Mendelssohn and included visits to Edinburg, Loch Lomond, and Fingals Cave. In 1996 and 1998, TYP represented the Triangle on two invitational concerts for the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC.

More recently, TYP performed concerts with the Martin Luther King All-Children's Choir as part of the 2003 and 2004 celebrations honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. TYJE has continued this tradition, performing on this concert in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In 2004, Carolina Ballet Principal Conductor, Alfred E. Sturgis, led TYP in two performances of Robert Ward's "Lady Kate" danced by the Raleigh Dance Theatre In 2005, TYP was honored to be the orchestra performing for the Inaugural Gala of Governor Michael Easley. The Cary High School Concert Chorus, directed by Edward Yasick, appeared on the TYS Fall Concert in 2008. In February 2009, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Raleigh Arts Commission, and United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, members of TYP joined forces with Enloe Chamber Choir and Raleigh Dance Theatre in a memorable performance of Telemann's opera, "Don Quixote at the Wedding of Comacho". In the spring of 2010, the Capital City Girls Choir Cantabile Singers, directed by Dr. Fran Page, sang with TYP in Holst's Neptune from The Planets.

"The TYP has played at such high levels for so long it should come as no surprise that it has been selected to perform for the January 15 second inauguration of Governor Easley. Bravo to our fine young players, who represent our best hopes for the future!"
— John W. Lambert, Classical Voice of North Carolina

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Artistic Staff

Artistic Director
1988 - present	Hugh Partridge
Triangle Youth Philharmonic
1988 - present	Hugh Partridge, Conductor
1988 - 1989	Bruce Reinoso, Associate Conductor
1989 - 1990	Don Martin, Associate Conductor
1990 - 1994	Don Oehler, Woodwind Coach
1990 - 1994	Paul Randall, Brass Coach
2006 - 2009	John Ilika, Brass Ensemble Director
2006 - 2009	Stephen Burke, Percussion Ensemble Director
Triangle Youth Symphony
1995 - 1996	Terry Blaylock, Conductor
1995 - 2009	Marta Findlay-Partridge, Associate Conductor
1996 - 2009	Tony Robinson, Conductor
2009 - 2011	Marta Findlay-Partridge, Conductor
2011 - present	McCrae Hardy, Conductor
Triangle Youth Orchestra
2000 - 2004	Andrew McAfee, Conductor
2000 - 2002	Karen Patterson, String Specialist
2002 - 2003	Jeremy Gibbs, Assistant Conductor
2004 - 2006	Jeremy Gibbs, Conductor
2004 - 2005	Jacqueline Saed, Assistant Conductor
2005 - 2006	Oskar Ozolinch, Assistant Conductor
2006 - 2008	Helen Bishop, Co-Conductor
2006 - 2008	Timothy Holley, Co-Conductor
2008 - 2011	Connie Lorber, String Specialist
2008 - present	Tim Kohring, Conductor
2011 - present	Jacob Wenger, Assistant Conductor
Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble
2005 - 2010	John V. Brown, Jr., Director
2008 - 2010	Brian Miller, Assistant Director
2010 - present	Dr. Gregg Gelb, Director
Triangle Youth String Orchestra
2009 - present	Marta Findlay-Partridge, Conductor

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PA Board Presidents

1988 - 1989	Laura Miller
1989 - 1990	Joyce Fischetti
1990 - 1992	Ralph Jones
1992 - 1994	Laura Miller
1994 - 1995	Gretchen Webb
1995 - 1996	Ralph Jones
1996 - 1997	Nell Redhage
1997 - 1999	Craig LeHoullier
1999	Rose Watlington
2000 - 2001	Richard Fleck
2001 - 2002	Teresa Vessels and Brian Beck
2002 - 2005	Walter Rogers
2005-2007	Cindy Hemenway
2007-2010	David Fruend
Current	Kay Pellack

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