West Side Orchestral Concerts

West Side Orchestral Concerts

Frédérique Petrides rehearsing her Festival Symphony Orchestra Courtesy of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Music Division and The University of Arkansas Press
Motto	"Tanglewood around the corner"
Formation	1961
Extinction	1977
Type	Outdoor summer classical concert series
Purpose	To present little known works by the classical masters and new works by American composers, as well as a full repertoire.
Headquarters	Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City
Location	Riverside Park (Manhattan)
Region served	Upper West Side of Manhattan and Citywide
Official language	English
Founder and conductor	Madame Frédérique Petrides
Main organ	West Side Community Concerts, Inc./West Side Orchestral Concerts, Inc.
Affiliations	The New York City Department of Parks; The Recording Industries Trust Fund; Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians

West Side Community Concerts, Inc., renamed West Side Orchestral Concerts, Inc. in 1968, were an American summer classical concert series given by a 40-piece orchestra, The Festival Symphony Orchestra. The series debuted in the summer of 1962 and continued until 1977. Frédérique Petrides (1903–1983) was its founder, organizer and musical director. The first concert in 1962, took place at 73rd Street, in Riverside Park, but in 1963 the series moved to its permanent location, a spacious sports arena, with the Hudson River as a backdrop, at 103rd Street in Riverside Park, Manhattan, New York, where, for the concerts, a temporary acoustical shell was brought in. The series was publicized and referred to as "Tanglewood around the corner". The concerts were well received by the press, attended by as many as 4,500, and broadcast live on WNYC radio.

Prior to founding the West Side Community Concerts/ West Side Orchestral Concerts, Frédérique Petrides, a pioneer in her field, had founded the Orchestrette Classique, an all-women's chamber orchestra, which existed from 1932 to 1943, premiered works by new American composers, such as Paul Creston, Samuel Barber and David Diamond; and gave five to six concerts annually in Carnegie chamber Music Hall, now Weill Recital Hall, founded the Carl Schurz Park concert series on Manhattan's Upper East Side in 1958, founded the Hudson Valley Symphony Orchestra in Tarrytown, New York in the 1930s, and founded the Student Symphony Society in New York City in 1950. Ms. Petrides was also editor and publisher of the Women in Music newsletters, that, in the 1930s, were published in New York and circulated internationally.