North Carolina Symphony
| North Carolina Symphony | |
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| Orchestra | |
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official logo
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| Founded | 1932 |
| Concert hall | Meymandi Concert Hall |
| Principal conductor | Grant Llewellyn |
| Website | www |
The North Carolina Symphony is an American orchestra based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with sixty-six full-time musicians. The orchestra performs in Meymandi Concert Hall and performs occasionally with the Carolina Ballet and the Opera Company of North Carolina. In 2012-13, the organization celebrated its 80th anniversary season. Concert series are also performed across North Carolina in the cities of, Chapel Hill, Cary, Southern Pines, New Bern, Wilmington, and Fayetteville, among others.
In 1932, Lamar Stringfield united a group of volunteers to form the North Carolina Symphony. They first performed in Hill Hall at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in North Carolina on May 14, 1932. The original musicians of the symphony were unpaid local musicians. By 1935, the North Carolina Symphony had performed in more than fifty cities and towns in North Carolina, in over 140 concerts. Dr. Benjamin Swalin, Music Director from 1939 to 1972, continued the orchestra's mission to reach as many North Carolina natives as possible.
In the 1940s, the North Carolina Symphony became the first orchestra to receive continuous state funding. The "Horn Tootin’ Bill", which asserted that state funds would be given to orchestras, was passed by the North Carolina State Legislature in March 1943. The North Carolina Symphony continues to receive this state funding today. In 1942, the Symphony began to focus on education, bringing in young children and students into the concert hall to ask questions and hear the musicians play. The Symphony began coordinating with elementary schools, exposing many children to symphonic music at an early age.
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Wikipedia