JACKSONVILLE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 60 Years of Great Music – Thank You, Jacksonville! Sept. 3, 1952 – Dr. James Christian Pfohl is appointed music director.
Sept. 21, 1949 – Charter for Jacksonville Symphony Association is approved by the Florida Circuit Court. Jan. 20, 1950 – A women’s group is formed to support the Symphony, later known as the Women’s Guild, known today as The Guild.
Jan. 5, 1959 – Symphony launches “The Magic of Music,” a 13-week educational television series on WJCT Channel 7 for Duval County Schools. March 8, 1950 – First performance of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra is held at the George Washington Auditorium, led by founding Music Director Van Lier Lanning. Ticket Price: $1.
Nov. 10, 1970 – Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops Orchestra conducts the Symphony’s opening concert, marking the JSO’s rebirth following a cancelled season. Later that season, comedian Jack Benny hams it up with the JSO in a benefit concert.
April 21, 1971 – Willis Page is announced as the Symphony’s new music director. May 18-19, 1972 – The Symphony performs at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall in New York, premiering new works by Carlisle Floyd and Duke Ellington in celebration of Jacksonville’s sesquicentennial.
Sept. 15, 1984 – Roger Nierenberg is welcomed as the new music director at a gala in Metropolitan Park. During his tenure, the Orchestra experienced dramatic growth and the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus was founded.
May 23, 1995 – Esteemed cellist Yo-Yo Ma performs a farewell concert with the Symphony in the old Civic Auditorium hall. The Symphony moves to a temporary home in the Florida Theatre until the new Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts is completed. Feb. 8, 1997 – Violin virtuosi Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman perform with the Symphony in the new Jim and Jan Moran Theater at the Times-Union Center.
Oct. 20, 1999 – Amelia Residents in Action for the Symphony (ARIAS) holds its inaugural event. Similar to BRASS in St. Johns County,ARIAS promotes Symphony performances and education opportunities in Nassau County. February 26, 2000 – The Symphony celebrates its Golden Anniversary with a week of special concerts, including the first-ever Fresh Ink Florida Composers’ Competition, now a biennial event.
Sept. 16, 1962 – Jacksonville Civic Auditorium is dedicated. First permanent home for the Symphony.
Oct. 2, 1973 – WJCT Public Broadcasting begins to offer simultaneous broadcasts of the Symphony’s concerts on television and radio. Today, local listeners can tune in to JSO broadcasts on WJCT 89.9 FM. In recent years, the orchestra has reached a national audience with several appearances on American Public Media’s “Performance Today.”
Jan 19, 1991 – The formation of the group Beaches Residents Actively Supporting the Symphony (BRASS) is publicly announced. The group, founded in December 1990, works to expand subscriptions, bring performances to the beaches area and provide music education opportunities. Jan 4, 1989 – Luciano Pavarotti performs with the Symphony in front of a sold-out audience at the Jacksonville Coliseum.
Jan. 28, 1962 – John Canarina conducts first concert as music director.
May 10, 1993 – The Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra (JSYO) is formed to provide continuing music education, training and performance opportunities for Jacksonville youth. Led by Music Director Scott Gregg, the JSYO currently enrolls over 200 students, comprising five orchestral ensembles and a chamber music program.
Feb. 13, 1991 – The first Starry Nights series is announced, featuring the Symphony performing with popular guest artists at Metropolitan Park.
May 11, 1999 – Fabio Mechetti is introduced as the Jacksonville Symphony’s new music director.
April 26, 1997 – Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall inaugural concert features Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by Roger Nierenberg, part of the grand opening of the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts.
Jan 22, 1998 – The Symphony performs at Carnegie Hall in New York with soprano Frederica von Stade and baritone Thomas Hampson. February 3, 2001– Led by Fabio Mechetti, the Symphony produces its first full-scale grand opera with a performance of Puccini’s Tosca. The JSO is unique among our country’s orchestras in producing grand opera.
October 7, 2003 – An alien named Schnoodle lands at a JSO educational concert, led by Michael Butterman. Each year the JSO and its volunteer organizations reach nearly 75,000 students in the four-county area, with concerts, ensemble visits, Instrument Zoos, Duval County “Symphony Schools” and “Jump Start Strings” with Communities In Schools.
2009 – The JSO is a vital part of cultural life on the First Coast, performing more than 100 concerts annually, and nearly 200 ensemble performances in schools and senior centers throughout Duval County and surrounding areas.
March 16, 2001 – The Symphony performs the inaugural concert featuring the rebuilt Casavant pipe organ in Jacoby Symphony Hall. The JSO becomes the country’s first orchestra to install an historic pipe organ in a new concert hall. The organ was dedicated to the City of Jacksonville and in 2005 was named The Bryan Concert Organ.