Hudson Valley Philharmonic

Hudson Valley Philharmonic (HVP)
Orchestra
Former name	Dutchess County Philharmonic Orchestra
Founded	1932
Location	Poughkeepsie, New York
Principal conductor	Randall Craig Fleischer

The Hudson Valley Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in Poughkeepsie, New York in the United States. The Hudson Valley Philharmonic also known as HVP began in 1932 and it serves the Hudson Valley region.

The Philharmonic offers a series of concert performances in the Bardavon 1869 Opera House or the Ulster Performing Arts Center.

The orchestra makes regular guest appearances at festival venues, including: SUNY/New Paltz Piano Summer, the Bowdoin Park pavilion of Dutchess County, and Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts.

In 1932, four Poughkeepsie businessmen who were also dedicated string players—George Hagstrom, Sydney Fleishman, Charles T. Miller and Dr. Charles Hoffman formed the nucleus of local musicians that eventually evolved into the Dutchess County Philharmonic Orchestra. With Hagstrom as its first conductor, the orchestra was made up of amateurs and professionals alike, plus a number of music students from surrounding high schools. In 1934, local backing enabled the DCPO to perform its first series of public concerts. By the 1940s, it had grown to 93 musicians. DCPO repertoire was largely classical, including some contemporary music and works by local composers.

In 1945, George Hagstrom stepped down as music director handing the baton over to Ole Windingstad, a European-trained conductor who came from the Oslo Philharmonic in Norway. Ole Windingstad also served as conductor to the New Orleans Philharmonic from 1940 to 1944. On October 29, 1953 under the direction of Maestro Ole Windingstad, the orchestra presented a program of two Norwegian composers, Grieg and Sparre-Olsen at New York's Carnegie Hall. It was also during Ole Windingstad's tenure that the orchestra presented Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf narrated by former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

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