Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra

The Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO; formerly the Minnesota Philharmonia) was the first, and for many years the only, symphony orchestra in the United States formally chartered upon inception to represent and serve the gay/lesbian community. Founded in 1992 by the late Kevin Ford, it is headquartered in Minneapolis and performs in Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University in St. Paul. Its current Music Director is Alexander Platt.

Diagnosed with AIDS in 1991, Minneapolis cellist Kevin Ford began thinking about leaving a legacy to the Twin Cities gay community. Enlisting the help of two other local musicians, Tim Perry and Corwyn Knutson from the St. Paul Civic Symphony, Ford began placing calls to members of the gay communities in other major U.S. cities, inquiring on if and how they might have started their local gay orchestra. To his astonishment, he quickly discovered that there were no other gay orchestras in any city in the U.S.

In late 1992 Ford placed ads in local Twin Cities gay publications, calling for musicians interested in forming a local gay/lesbian orchestra to come to an informational meeting. About forty local musicians showed up, enough to prove to Ford that the concept was viable. Ford approached William T. Jones, the founder and former conductor of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, about serving as conductor of the ensemble. Jones declined the position, but he said he would conduct the first rehearsal of the new orchestra to get the group started. The first rehearsal of the newly named Minnesota Philharmonia took place in January 1993, with Jones conducting.

That rehearsal was deemed successful by most everyone involved, but left the group scrambling to find an interim conductor until a formal search could be made. Ford remembered James Touchi-Peters, a 27-year-old former child-prodigy who had guest-conducted an orchestra he played in several years earlier. A call was made to Touchi-Peters, who lived in Los Angeles at the time, and he agreed to come to Minneapolis to serve as interim conductor of the new ensemble until a permanent music director could be found. As Touchi-Peters was not a gay man, he was told by Ford - now chairman of the new group's board of directors - that he would not be eligible for the permanent post; and he accepted the interim job on those terms.

Touchi-Peters conducted the second rehearsal of the Minnesota Philharmonia only a week after Jones' appearance, and the group started preparing for their first public performance. Almost instantly, Touchi-Peters' chemistry with the new ensemble was undeniable to almost everyone involved; and after only a few rehearsals several of the musicians asked the orchestra's board to allow Touchi-Peters to apply for the permanent position. This put Ford and the orchestra's board in a delicate situation; board members wondered aloud about the ramifications for the gay community of having a non-gay conductor leading America's first gay orchestra.

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Wikipedia