Reflecting on Seventy-Five Years of the
Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra

By Richard M. Dowell

| Introduction | Context and Evolution | Bryant, 1926-1949 | 

| Barnes, 1949-1970 | Danek, 1970-1978 | Meyer, 1978-1995 | 

| Egolf-ShamRao, 1995-1997 | Bowden, 1997-present |

Introduction

            Who would have guessed that the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra would still be around after seventy-five years?  In spite of the expected financial difficulties endured by cultural institutions of relatively small communities, the orchestra has continued to provide the city with high-quality concerts, many of which include featured artists of critical acclaim.  Many people and organizations deserve recognition—the six musical directors, the players, management, board of directors, fund-raising committees, local and corporate businesses and Indiana State University.  We must also pay special tribute to those individuals who played a part in the orchestra’s first concert on December 4, 1926, at the Indiana Theatre.  Lastly, the orchestra’s existence is indebted to its audience members for their ongoing support of the longest-running civic orchestra in the state of Indiana.      

Context and Evolution   

Like any prospering American city, Terre Haute offered a vast array of entertainment in the 1920s.  Located mainly downtown, over a dozen theatres provided the public with a steady diet of silent films, vaudeville and various other types of stage productions.  In those days, theatres employed house bands (or orchestras), which also made regular appearances at dances that were often held at the ballrooms of the Deming Hotel and the Terre Haute House.  Among the prominent theatre bands during the orchestra’s first season (1926-27) were Paul Johnson’s American Theatre Orchestra; Leo Baxter’s Liberty Boys Orchestra, which has continued as a “ghost” band with David Watkins playing Leo’s piano parts since 1988; Warren Lucas’s Indiana Theatre Orchestra; and Jack O’Grady’s Varsity Entertainers of the Grand Theatre.  (Violinist Lucas and percussionist O’Grady were original members of the Terre Haute Symphony.)  Another outlet for instrumentalists was the dance hall—especially the Trianon at 29^th and Wabash, which opened its doors in 1923.  For musicians and dancers, a highlight of the 1926-27 season at the Trianon was the Mardi Gras ball on Friday, April 22, sponsored by the musicians’ union.  Attracting approximately 2,000 people, the event included a line-up of nine local bands, which played half-hour sets starting at 9:30PM.[i][i]  The dance band craze also had an impact on younger musicians in the area.  For instance, the legendary Claude Thornhill and Harold “Ish” Malone—who at age ninety-two currently plays lead alto saxophone with the Baxter Band—formed the Twelve Points Harmonious Outcasts while students at Garfield High School in the mid 1920s.[ii][ii]

Also a factor in the musical activity in town was the recent development and growth of an instrumental program in the Vigo County School Corporation.  Chester Fidlar, whose son Willfred was a charter member of the orchestra and later its concertmaster from 1930 to 1945, introduced instrumental instruction to the corporation in 1916 with free violin classes after the regular school day.[iii][iii]  Piano classes soon followed, as did several instrumental ensembles.  In the spring of 1926, this growth was put on display when the three major high schools—Gerstmeyer, Wiley and Garfield—gave a combined concert in Wiley’s gymnasium.[iv][iv]  Meanwhile, the music department at Indiana Normal School benefited greatly from the arrival of Will H. Bryant in 1921; assuming responsibility for the school orchestra, Bryant became the first full-time faculty member to assist chairman Lowell Mason Tilson.[v][v]  Performances of major operatic, choral and orchestral works became commonplace through the efforts of Tilson and Bryant.  Furthermore, several local churches at the time enjoyed flourishing music programs with complex works performed throughout the service.  Moreover, the Washington Avenue Presbyterian Church and First Baptist Church housed their own orchestras, both important precursors to the Terre Haute Symphony.[vi][vi]  Although various local recitals of art music took place throughout the year, events that featured touring soloists received the most extensive newspaper coverage.  During the orchestra’s first season, local crowds took in performances by pianists Percy Grainger and Harold Bauer and violinist Albert Spalding.[vii][vii]  In addition, many residents ventured to Indianapolis that year to hear violinist Fritz Kreisler and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff.[viii][viii] 

            By the mid-1920s, the people of Terre Haute clearly had an appetite for art music.  Granted, some desires could be met through radio broadcasts; for instance, the Saturday Spectator claimed that half of the city in the latter part of the decade tuned in to weekly broadcasts of Walter Damrosch with the N. B. C. Symphony Orchestra.[ix][ix]  Nonetheless, Terre Haute had already hosted a prominent musical life.  Setting a precedent, the Terre Haute Oratorio Society flourished from 1877 to 1895 sometimes with the instrumental backing of the Ringgold Orchestra.  Somewhat overlapping, the Naylor Opera House, which was destroyed by fire on July 21, 1896, and the Grand Opera House, which opened a year and a half later, provided various musical events, particularly musical theatre.  In spite of such activity, the city had not produced a civic orchestra that would survive on its own right; however, Terre Haute’s substantial growth in instrumental music education and its plethora of working musicians—many of whom belonged to the American Federation of Musicians—laid the foundation for its own symphonic society.  But who would be the conductor?  Will H. Bryant of Indiana State Normal School was a likely candidate.  Before joining the faculty in 1921, Bryant had a long career as a performer and conductor.  An 1895 graduate of Findlay College (Ohio), Bryant led several community musical societies including a concert band for a railroad company, a theater orchestra and a Scottish band.  Ultimately, it was his experience as a first violinist in the newly-established orchestra in Springfield, Illinois, that gave him the strong desire to establish his own symphonic society. [x][x]

According to the Saturday Spectator, the strong impetus for a local orchestra came more from musicians in the local union, rather from Bryant.[xi][xi]  The orchestra formed some time in the spring of 1926, and, during a meeting on March 24, the Terre Haute Symphony Society confirmed that Bryant would serve as director and Arthur Hill—chairman of the music department at Indiana State Teachers College from 1942 to 1964—as concertmaster.  After Ross Garver, manager of the Wabash Theatres Corporation, offered the use of a stage, weekly rehearsals commenced on Wednesday mornings at the Indiana Theatre.  Shortly thereafter, the meeting time changed to the evening when L.N. Hines, president of Indiana State Normal School, offered the use of Normal Hall.  Rehearsals continued there until July and, following a substantial break, resumed on October 6.  By that time, Arthur Hill had left Terre Haute to develop an instrumental program in Harrison Township Schools, and Mrs. Victor C. Miller was appointed concertmaster.[xii][xii]  Moreover, only two months remained until the orchestra would make its first appearance.

Bryant, 1926-1949

Given under the auspices of the Music Section of the Woman’s Department Club, the premiere concert of the Terre Haute Civic Symphony Orchestra—fifty-one members strong according to the Terre Haute Tribune (see Example 1)—took place on December 4, 1926, at 10:30AM in the Indiana Theatre.  In the manner of a nineteenth-century “musicale,” the event was attended by invited guests, many of whom met for a luncheon at the Department Club house on Cherry Street following the concert.[xiii][xiii]  The invitation was extended to all members of the Woman’s Department Club and their guests (three for members of the music division and only one for everyone else), members of the Blind Club, local ministers and families, and music students of Indiana State Normal School and St. Mary-of-the-Woods.[xiv][xiv] 

Consistent with instrumental performances of the time period, the program (reconstructed in Example 2) consisted of several short selections that represented a wide range of styles.  Nevertheless, the orchestra performed select movements from standard symphonic works in the middle of each half:   the last two movements from Haydn’s Symphony No. 104 in the first half and four movements from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 2 in the second half.  As an opener, the symphony executed the now rarely-heard Overture to Ruy Blas by Mendelssohn, and closed the concert with Gounod’s “Processional March” from The Queen of Sheba.  A pair of short works—the obscure “Ballroom Whispers” by operatic composer Louis Gregh and Glazunov’s “Bachanal” from The Seasons—concluded the first half.  As substantial as the orchestral selections may have been, no concert in a small community was complete without a vocal soloist.  Beginning the second half of the program was Alma Robertson’s rendition of the “Shadow Song” from Meyerbeer’s Dinorah.  An aspiring operatic singer from Clay City with “an exquisite and well-trained soprano voice,”[xv][xv] Robertson received great praise from the local papers and apparently from the audience as well as she responded to a standing ovation with an unspecified “clever” number.[xvi][xvi]  Not forgetting the orchestra’s role in the event, Anne Bowles Wiley in the Terre Haute Tribune stated, “[n]ever in the history of club life in the city have the women heard any more finished a program, whether local or imported.”  She added, “Mr. Bryant, who has conducted this musical aggregation for only several months, yet brought their work to as near perfection as is ever heard in such a large musical body.”[xvii][xvii]  Amazingly prophetic, Mrs. Warner Paige, the chairman of the music section, commented that the premiere concert marked the onset of a substantial musical career in the city.[xviii][xviii] 

As evidenced by a steady flow of media coverage, the orchestra had a strong impact on the community during its first season and established close ties with State Normal School.  According to the Saturday Spectator, twenty-one of the forty-eight members of the orchestra were students of the Normal School while others were teachers and local musicians; only one player was an “outsider,” the bassoonist Sam Jordan from Chicago.[xix][xix]  Although not described in detail by the local papers, the orchestra’s second concert took place at St. Mary-of-the-Woods on December 14, 1926, and proved “exceedingly successful.”[xx][xx]  Given its date, the program at St. Mary’s was possibly similar in content to the opening concert.  Completely different, however, was the program on February 23, 1927, at Normal Hall auditorium, where Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B minor (“Unfinished”) and Tchaikovsky’s March Slave were heard among other shorter works.  The regular price for admission was fifty cents while Normal students were admitted at half-price.[xxi][xxi]  According to the Terre Haute Star, the crowd included “a large body of students” and “filled the auditorium . . .  to capacity.”[xxii][xxii]  In addition, the orchestra was at least scheduled to play an introductory concert for the aforementioned ball at the Trianon on April 22[xxiii][xxiii]; however, detailed newspaper accounts of that event make no mention of the orchestra’s involvement.  Also conspicuously absent from the local papers is any coverage of a children’s concert that the group had planned to give in April.[xxiv][xxiv]

Made up of volunteers, the orchestra in the early years gave concerts intermittently, but, in the 1933-1934 season, the newly-formed Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra Association established a concert series, which usually consisted of three or four performance during Bryant’s reign.  Earlier, the Woman’s Department Club’s Saturday morning musicale at the Indiana Theatre had become an annual event with pianist Vivian Bard—a student of Miss Anna Hulman—playing a movement from Liszt’s Piano Concerto in E-flat for the second of these on January 28, 1928.[xxv][xxv]  According to the Terre Haute Star, a crowd of 1,500 gathered to hear the third annual event on January 26, 1929, at the Indiana Theatre.[xxvi][xxvi]  Anna Bowles Wiley in the Terre Haute Tribune claimed that this concert demonstrated “the highest type of artistry.”  She elaborated, “[t]here has been no orchestra, no matter how pretentious [its] name, playing in Terre Haute of late years which has rendered any more artistic program than that of Saturday by local people.”[xxvii][xxvii]   

The association between the symphony and State Normal School (Indiana State Teachers’ College in 1929) grew closer in 1933 when president Ralph Tirey not only allowed the orchestra to use the college’s rehearsal space but also its musical instruments.  Even with the school’s support, the symphony had to operate that season on a budget of $1,000, which covered the costs of soloists, music rental and all locally printed material, such as tickets and programs.[xxviii][xxviii]  Recognizing its close association with the school, the orchestra had changed its official name to Terre Haute Civic and Teachers’ College Symphony Orchestra by 1940.  After the orchestra had performed in such locations as the Indiana Theatre, Shrine Temple, Sycamore Theatre of Laboratory School, Hippodrome Theatre, the old First Baptist Church and the Mayflower Room of the Terre Haute House, the partnership with the college then became complete in 1940 when the Union Building became the group’s first permanent home.    

Consisting largely of short selections, the concerts led by Bryant slowly introduced the Terre Haute public to standard symphonic works, albeit usually only select movements at a time.  While the soloists at first were just as local as the rank and file musicians, Bryant later secured guest artists of considerable distinction.  Celebrating its twentieth anniversary on March, 1946, the orchestra was joined by Percy Grainger, who functioned as pianist, composer and conductor.  Of particular note, Grainger conducted his orchestral arrangement of “Irish Tune from County Derry,” which was accompanied by the “humming voices” of the College Choir.[xxix][xxix]  Another special feature was the composer’s playing of Aeolian Harp and The Lilt of the Reel by Henry Cowell, whose tone clusters and “inside the piano” effects must have interested Bryant enough to warrant the composer’s own appearance with the orchestra two seasons later.  Concluding the 1947-48 season was an “all American program” on April 21, including works by Cowell, Henry Hadley, Howard Grunn, and Bryant’s own concert overture.  Not surprisingly, local reviewers concentrated largely on Cowell’s interpretations of his own solo works.  For instance, Frederick Black of the Terre Haute Star noted, “[I]t’s always interesting, especially when he practically crawls inside the piano to stroke the strings to produce the wailing of the banshee.”  For this reason, Black opined, “Mr. Cowell is more fun to watch than Harpo Marx.”[xxx][xxx]     

Although many soloists were imported, the orchestra itself still retained its local make-up by not typically recruiting ringers from other cities.  Nonetheless, the orchestra had grown to over seventy members by the 1940s and had come a long way since the early years when Harold “Ish” Malone had to sometimes help cover violoncello parts on the baritone saxophone.[xxxi][xxxi]  Simultaneously, programming became more sophisticated with complete works—particularly concertos—frequently appearing on concerts.  Large-scale productions were also sometimes possible with the collaboration of other forces.  For instance, the orchestra and the Sycamore Players performed Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream replete with Mendelssohn’s incidental music on April 11 and 12, 1940.  During the 1944-45 season, however, only fifty-seven active names appeared in the programs while thirty-eight others were listed as “in the service.”  In spite of the war, orchestral concerts continued, and guest appearances by the St. Louis Sinfonietta (March 20, 1944; April 14, 1945), the Chicago String Ensemble (April 28, 1946), and the Little Philharmonic Symphony of Chicago (May 5, 1947) supplemented the symphony’s three annual concerts. 

During his tenure as music director, Bryant solidified the concert season, established and maintained close ties with the college, and began the tradition of hiring headline performers.  With very little budget at his disposal, Bryant should be commended for his efforts in setting the stage for his successor and colleague at Indiana State Teachers College, James Barnes.

Barnes, 1949-1970

            Appointed as musical director by Bryant, James Barnes began conducting the orchestra in the 1949-50 season.  After joining the faculty of Indiana State Teachers College in 1948 to teach string instruments, Barnes later established himself as a theory teacher and department chairperson before retiring in 1983.  A graduate of Oakland City College (B.A.), Indiana State Teachers College (M.A.) and Indiana University (Ph.D.), his conducting career was distinguished by three consecutive summers of enrollment in the select classes of Pierre Monteux in Hancock, Maine. 

Leading the orchestra for over twenty years, Barnes transformed the Terre Haute Symphony (official name starting in the 1955-56 season)[xxxii][xxxii] into one that closely resembles the ensemble in its present form.  One major step in that direction came in 1962 when all members for the first time were paid for all rehearsals and performances.[xxxiii][xxxiii]  Another link with the current orchestra is common membership, as the following principals and former principals all joined the symphony under Barnes’s direction:  David and Nancy Watkins (horn), William Denton (oboe), and Dalvin Boone (trumpet).  A survey of the programs clearly reveals that Barnes established a tradition of symphonic concerts that consisted of three or four major works performed in their entirety.  According to David Watkins, the programming of countless challenging works reflected Barnes’s taste and high standards.  With Watkins playing first horn for the final concert of the 1966-67 season (April 26, 1967), a performance of Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 in D major became even more challenging than usual when one of his horn strings broke well before the work’s climax; luckily, assistant principal hornist Patti Friedlein agreed to share her instrument, which the two passed back and forth during the last movement.[xxxiv][xxxiv]  

Paralleling artistic growth was the obvious need to raise more funds for the orchestra.  While financial support came largely from individuals in the first few decades, it was during the Barnes era that the business community began making significant contributions to the orchestra.  Instrumental in this development was Dr. Benjamin Benjaminoff, who may have been the first person to actively recruit donations from the business and industrial segments of society.  Beginning in 1964, the Women’s Symphony Society—reorganized as the Terre Haute Symphony League in the 1979-80—formed specifically to raise funds for the orchestra.[xxxv][xxxv]  Around 1960, the Civic Music Association, which sponsored a subscription series of guests under the leadership of Robert Dewey, turned its leftover funds to the orchestra when the two groups merged on an artistic and financial level.[xxxvi][xxxvi]  Beginning in the 1961-62 season, the merger with the Civic Music Association resulted in a subscription series of six performances including two special events, such as an opera, ballet, solo recital, or concert presented by other orchestras and various large ensembles.  Significant guests included the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (April 10, 1963), the Robert Shaw Chorale (February 17, 1964) and the Goldovsky Opera Company (February 12, 1967).  The latter returned twice in the 1970s (October 11, 1972, and November 15, 1978).      

            Although the orchestra often presented high quality concerts without guest assistance, featured artists continued to add appeal and variety to many of the programs.  Among the soloists were local artists such as Earle Melendy, concertmaster 1957-70, who appeared in featured roles in 1958, 1963, 1966 and 1968.  Concurrently, artists of national and international fame became better represented.  For example, pianist Ruth Slenczynska played on May 2, 1961, to an “overflow audience” at Tilson.[xxxvii][xxxvii]  Other noteworthy guests were baritone William Warfield (January 11, 1966); violinists Joseph Gingold (November 3, 1965) and Sidney Harth (October 29); flutist Claude Monteux (November 11, 1955); saxophonist Sigurd Rascher (January 7, 1964); and pianist Eugene List (November 1, 1966).  Thanks to corporate sponsorship by CBS, the orchestra series included a solo recital by violin virtuoso Isaac Stern on April 21, 1962.   Lastly, jazz great Dave Brubeck joined the orchestra and the University Singers (of ISU) on April 23, 1969, for a performance of his “The Light in the Wilderness,” a choral work that included solo improvisation by the composer.          

In addition to recruiting famous performers, Barnes drew new audience members through educational programs mainly targeted at children.  For instance, a young artist contest, which began in 1951, granted a Vigo County student the opportunity to appear as a soloist with the orchestra, which in return gave a series of concerts at local schools beginning in 1952 and in 1956 started bussing students to campus.[xxxviii][xxxviii]  Lastly, youth interest in orchestral music manifested itself in the first concert given by the Terre Haute Youth Symphony, conducted by Barnes on October 2, 1962.  Clearly, both organizations are greatly indebted to the devotion and leadership of James Barnes.     

Danek, 1970-1978

Succeeding Barnes as musical director was Victor Danek, who had joined the ISU music faculty in 1964—two years after completing a Doctorate of Music Education from Indiana University.  Earlier, he had an earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the American University in Chicago.  As a violinist, he had been a member of the San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Birmingham symphonies and had conducted the orchestra of Enid, Oklahoma.  He was also the founder of the Indianapolis Civic Orchestra, which he conducted for nine years. 

Inheriting a well-trained orchestra, Danek enjoyed the traditions established by Bryant and Barnes and led the orchestra through an era characterized by several notable changes.  At this time, public relations increased with hired managerial assistance from Diane Chandler and Lynn Danek, the director’s daughter-in-law.  High points in community support included the first sell-out of a subscription series in the 1973-74 season (still six events)[xxxix][xxxix] and Mayor William Brighton’s designating September as Terre Haute Symphony month in 1974.[xl][xl] 

Figuring prominently in the orchestra’s success were annual visits by an artist with popular appeal, beginning with musical humorist Victor Borge on November 28, 1973.  Public interest was so great that some of these events were held in Hulman Center.  In addition to her stage antics and singing of popular tunes, Phyllis Diller showed off her keyboard talents at Hulman Center on October 6, 1975, with performances of the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15, and arrangements of Bach’s Two-part Inventions (Nos. 1 and 8).  Also noteworthy, Tommy Newsom, reed player and former leader of the Tonight Show band, joined pianist John Spicknall and others for a jazz set during the second half of the concert on October 1, 1977. 

At the other end of the spectrum were appearances by violoncellist Leonard Rose (February 4, 1976); pianist Jorge Bolet (April 25, 1972); celebrated flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal (March 12, 1975); and double bass virtuoso Gary Karr, who played Dragonetti’s concerto for his instrument on March 29, 1977.  Foreshadowing a later major development of the orchestral series, the concert featuring Gary Karr and one earlier in the season on February 1, 1977, utilized a chamber orchestra:  a unique feature of the “Golden Anniversary” season.  Also adding variety in the 1970s were numerous guest conductors, among them principal bassoonist Stanley Petrulis (March 30, 1976; October 1, 1977); percussionist Ramon Meyer (November 15, 1977); Antonia Brico (November 16, 1976) from Denver; Jackson Wiley from Butler University (March 30, 1976); and Herman Berg from DePauw University (November 2, 1971; January 11, 1972).  In addition, Orcenith Smith, Berg’s successor as the conductor of DePauw orchestra, made his first appearance with the THSO on March 5, 1978.

Through the efforts of Danek and various guests at the podium, numerous works of high artistic merit were performed.  For the “Season of Surprises” of 1972-73, the series offered Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) with the University Singers (November 30, 1972) and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, Op. 88 (June 30, 1973).  Other significant works included Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis (April 3, 1974); Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (March 5, 1978); Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (October 1, 1977); Respighi’s Pines of Rome (November 15, 1977); and Mahler’s Songs of the Wayfarer, sung by mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Mannion for Danek’s final concert as director on April 4, 1978. 

Meyer, 1978-1995

            At the start of the 1978-79 season, Danek took over as principal second violinist, and Ramon Meyer, timpanist starting in 1971, moved to the front of the orchestra to become its fourth musical director.  For the first time, the symphony appointed a principal guest conductor, Orcenith Smith, who along with Meyer led the orchestra during a period of considerable artistic growth and increased concert activity.  The experience and qualifications of the two conductors were central in this development.

At the time of his appointment, Meyer’s main responsibilities at ISU were serving as administrative assistant of the department and conducting the University Singers, which he led until his retirement in 1996.  Prior to his arrival in 1971, Meyer had been a full-time faculty member for twelve years at Florida State University, where he earned a Ph.D. in music theory.  Also holding a Master of Music degree in historical and critical studies from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, impressive academic credentials complemented his performance experience.  As a percussionist, he had played with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the Florida State Chamber Orchestra, the Peninsula Music Festival, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and as principal with the Louisville Orchestra from 1953 to 1955.  An accomplished tubist and double bassist, Orcenith Smith had moved to the area when he joined the faculty at DePauw in 1974.  Also a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Smith had attended classes with Thomas Schippers, former director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.        

            As the orchestral season expanded, increased managerial help became necessary, as Gretchen Warner was hired as the first full-time manager for the 1981-82 season.  The following season, Susan Bunce acquired the position and remained with the orchestra until 1993.  In Bunce’s absence, Alane Meis served as interim manager before Elizabeth A. Smith took over the position and held it until 1996. Even back in the 1980s, managers had considerable help from other office employees, among them orchestra members Shelly Criss, Daniel Powers, Nancy Watkins, Laura Savage and Judy Hamilton.   

            Although the new era began with the familiar six-performance season, the non-orchestra events of the annual series were replaced by regular concerts after Meyer’s first season as director.  Not to go out quietly, the last of the special events was a staged production of Verdi’s Rigoletto by the Goldovsky Opera Company on November 15, 1978.  While children’s concerts, appearances at local festivals, and run-outs sporadically augmented the regular season in earlier years, some of these extra events evolved into annual traditions.  For instance, the first annual free family concert at Fairbanks Park took place on May 15, 1982.  The Children’s Concert for Vigo County students also became an annual event beginning in the 1978-79 season.[xli][xli]                      

            A major turning point in the group’s career was the inauguration of the three-concert Discovery Series at Woodrow Wilson during the 1983-84 season.  Given the more intimate venue, these concerts were designed to offer sophisticated programs of works better suited for a smaller orchestra.  As an example of their artistic merit, the first of the these concerts on September 20, 1983, consisted of Webern’s Symphonie, Op. 21; Ives’s Unanswered Question (with offstage conducting by William Wakefield); Copland’s Quiet City; and Britten’s Simple Symphony.  For two seasons, 1983 to 1985, the subscription series included a concert by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra as part of Indiana State University’s Contemporary Music Festival, established in 1973.  Starting in the 1985-86 season, the series stabilized at nine concerts (six with full orchestra at Tilson and three chamber performances at Woodrow Wilson):  a format that continued through the spring of 1991.   The most ambitious scheduling in the history of the orchestra took place in the 1991-92 season with the advent of a three-concert pops series--an extension of the traditional Holiday Pops concert.  Including the Fairbanks Park concert, repeat performances of the Christmas and children’s concerts, and a run-out performance to Vincennes, the orchestra presented an unprecedented sixteen concerts that year.  The first major cut back would be the complete dissolution of the Discovery Series the subsequent year, at which time the group settled in to a season of six concerts of “The Classics” and three of “The Pops.”   

Although the orchestra’s increased activity was at times paralleled by serious financial problems, each season was replete with exquisite programming.  When asked about the most memorable performances that he conducted with the symphony, Ramon Meyer first mentioned the large-scale works with chorus because they combine “the two things I love most.”[xlii][xlii]  Among those were Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (April 20, 1982); Verdi’s Requiem (April 11 [Eastern Illinois] and April 13, 1987); Brahms’s Requiem (April 21, 1990); Mozart’s Mass in C minor, K. 427 (November 11 and November 12 [Vincennes], 1991); and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor (“Resurrection”), chosen by Meyer for his last concert on April 22, 1995.  Conducted by faculty member Robert Hounchell, the performance of Carmina burana as the last event of Meyer’s first season on April 25, 1979, also belongs to this impressive list of works.   

During the time of Meyer and Smith, numerous challenging works for the orchestra were presented each season.  Known for his penchant for the blockbusters of the symphonic repertoire, Orcenith Smith conducted Holst’s The Planets (January 31, 1990); Mussorgsy’s Pictures at an Exhibition (January 26, 1984); Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 95 (“From the New World”) (March 2, 1983); Respighi’s Fountains of Rome (November 14, 1980); Copland’s Symphony No. 3 (January 23, 1992); Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 (January 30, 1986); and, on the same program, Wagner’s “Siegfried’s Rhine Journey” from Götterdämmerung and Richard Strauss’s Till Eulenspiegel (March 7, 1985).  Another major undertaking was the programming of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 (February 22, 1987), conducted by Meyer for the much-celebrated sixty-year anniversary season—a year also marked by the orchestra’s move into its current office space in the Deming Center.  A special feature of each major concert of the anniversary season was a fanfare by an orchestra member; those contributing works were Dalvin Boone, Doug Walter, David Watkins, Allison Sniffin and Stanley Petrulis.  Spread out over several years were premieres of longer works, such as Alexina Louie’s Songs of Paradise (October 30, 1985); Michael Shelle’s Spirits (March 26, 1994); David Watkins’s A Wabash Portrait (September 8, 1991); David Ott’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, played by Robert Chappell (January 26, 1984); and Dan Levitan’s Concerto No. 2 for marimba and orchestra, performed by Doug Walter (February 28, 1991). 

Local soloists were usually limited to one per season, as various section leaders and faculty members took their turn in the spotlight.  Meanwhile, annual budgets allowed for several guest artists of acclaim with sometimes one of celebrity status.  Perhaps the most famous guest was Doc Severinsen, whose high-powered performance on November 17, 1991, marked a high point in audience reception.  In fact, Doc attracted a mob of autograph-hungry fans outside of Tilson’s backstage door (Northwest corner facing Normal Hall).  Incidentally, the fans promptly dispersed in fear of being trampled by percussionist Sharon Jackson, who showed no signs of delaying the transporting of instruments![xliii][xliii]  According to Meyer, Doc returned his appreciation to the orchestra during the final bows, when he said, “Ray, you’re a hell of an accompanier.”[xliv][xliv]  Another unforgettable guest was Peter Schickele, whose two performances with the orchestra (April 23, 1980; January 31, 1987) have prepared us all for the occasional musical joke or pun.  Also contributing to the variety of the Pops concerts were Nashville legend Chet Atkins (April 19, 1986); singer-songwriter Paul Williams (September 25, 1982); Sousa impersonator Keith Brion (February 13, 1993); and the Dallas Brass (October 9, 1993). 

            Of the guest soloists for the more conventional orchestral concerts, many deserve mention.  Among the several soloists whom Dr. Meyer remembers fondly were acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax (January 29, 1982); violinist Stephanie Chase (April 4, 1988; March 20, 1993); and violinist Franco Gulli (November 4, 1981), whose cadenza during Beethoven’s Violin Concerto was described by the conductor as “immaculate conception.”[xlv][xlv]  Orcenith Smith believes that the second appearance of Bloomington native Joshua Bell (April 22, 1992) stood out as an exceptional performance of Brahms’s Violin Concerto; he elaborated, “both soloist and orchestra were completely involved in the intimate interplay of this most grand work.”[xlvi][xlvi]  Another teenage violin sensation who once resided in Bloomington, Corey Cerovsek impressed local audiences during his first appearance on May 7, 1989, at Woodrow Wilson.  A special feature of that concert was the return to Terre Haute of the young violinist’s mentor, Joseph Gingold, who joined his pupil for a performance of Bach’s Concerto for two violins in D minor, BWV 1043.  As a young adult, Cerovsek made his second appearance on a subscription series on October 30, 1993. 

In addition to Emanuel Ax, numerous renowned pianists appeared with the orchestra, among them Lorin Hollander (November 15, 1986); Jeffrey Kahane (October 17, 1987; November 14, 1992); Barry Snyder (October 8, 1988; April 21, 1993); Steven Hough (January 26, 1994); and Ruth Laredo (April 20, 1991).  Guest vocalists included coloratura Roberta Peters (April 2, 1981); Jerome Hines (April 20, 1983), famous bass of the Metropolitan Opera; soprano Lucy Shelton (November 10, 1990); and William Warfield, who returned to Terre Haute to narrate Copland’s Lincoln Portrait on March 23, 1985.  Also rich in vocal solos were concert productions of Puccini’s La Bohème (April 3, 1993) and Gershwin’s Porgy Bess (November 13, 1979), which featured students and faculty of Indiana University and was funded by Betty Foster Blumberg.  Lastly, many supporters will remember the appearances by flutist Carol Wincenc (November 17, 1987; January 21, 1993); violinists Miriam Fried (April 3, 1985), Viktoria Mullova (October 23, 1986) and Jaime Laredo (February 27, 1980); and Margaret Hillis, who conducted a program of works by all female composers on October 21, 1990, at St. Mary-of-the-Woods.  Another female conductor stood at the podium when Cindy Egolf-ShamRao led the orchestra during her audition concert on November 12, 1994.

Egolf-ShamRao, 1995-1997

                 The retirement of Dr. Meyer and the appointment of Cindy Egolf-ShamRao marked the end of the orchestra’s association with a music director who also served on the faculty at ISU.  Egolf-ShamRao was also music director/conductor of the DePaul Symphony and principal guest conductor of the Panswowa Philharmonic in Czestochowa, Poland.  Other groups that she had conducted included the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony and the Lafayette Symphony. Holding a doctoral degree in conducting from the University of Michigan—where her principal teacher was Gustav Meier—, Egolf had studied with numerous masters including Leonard Bernstein, Seji Ozawa, Roger Norrington, Leonard Slatkin and Andre Previn.  Among her credits was placing in the top six in the 1994 Leopold Stokowski International Competition for Conductors.

            For the 1995-96 season, the orchestra reverted back to a six-concert season that included one Pops event—the ever-popular Christmas concert (presented twice).  Although compact, this series offered several noteworthy performances.  For instance, “Mad About Mozart”—the theme for the first concert (September 30)—featured Mozart’s Concerto for clarinet in A major, K. 622, by Larry Combs of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  For the season’s finale on April 13, the orchestra resurrected Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D, Op. 125, which had not been programmed since 1982.

The second and last season with Egolf-Sham-Rao (1996-97) saw a change in management, as Jay Kidwell was named Executive Director.  Another change was in the number of subscription concerts:  a reduction to five events—i. e., one fewer than in the previous year.  The season opened appropriately with the Fairbanks Concert "Overtures in the Park” on September 15.[xlvii][xlvii]  For the concert on November 16, 1996, Daniel Powers, composer-in-residence since 1995, arranged Contrasts, a work that was written collectively by local fourth and fifth grade students.  Another novelty came at the end of the season (April 26, 1997), when concertmaster Paul Roby, Sr., shared the spotlight with son, Paul Roby, Jr., of the Philadelphia Orchestra, for a performance of Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola in E-flat major, K. 364 (320d).  (The concertmaster played viola.)  The series then ended with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“from the New World”).  On August 9, 1997, Terre Haute residents had several reasons to reminisce at the Hulman Center concert entitled “Movies, Music and Magic” with appearances by Orcenith Smith as guest conductor and “The Fascinators,” a local “boy band” from the 1950s.  Another surprise was the formal introduction of the orchestra’s sixth musical director, David Bowden.  Addressing his first season as director, Bowden made a pledge that the orchestra would “knock your socks off.”

Bowden, 1997-present

            At the time of his appointment with the Terre Haute Symphony, David Bowden was certainly no stranger to the orchestral milieu of Central Indiana.  A graduate of Indiana University with a doctoral degree in instrumental conducting and a master’s in choral conducting, Bowden also serves as musical director of the Columbus (Indiana) Philharmonic (since 1987) and the Carmel Symphony Orchestra.  In addition, he makes frequent guest appearances in the United States and Europe.  He also finds time to conduct recording sessions for his multi-CD contract with Naxos Records.  A five-time winner of ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, Bowden has successfully implemented his innovative ideas with the our orchestra, which will offer a particularly rich series for the seventy-five year anniversary in 2001-02.  Also figuring prominently in the current success of the orchestra is the management of Executive Director Jean Williams, who succeeded Chad Miller (1998-99). 

            Since Bowden’s arrival, numerous local artists and groups have made appearances on the five-concert series.  For instance, the Terre Haute Children’s Choir, founded by its director Jane Conner in 1993,[xlviii][xlviii] plays an integral role in the annual Holiday Pops concert.  Other popular local groups that have recently shared the stage with the orchestra are the Ebony Majestic Choir (December 6, 1997), A Handbell Choir (December 11, 1999), Crossroads Handbell Choir (December 9, 2000), Community Theatre Members (December 9, 2000, and December 8, 2001), Rose Hulman Choir (December 9, 2000), and the Banks of the Wabash Chorus (April 21, 2001).  Taken under the wing of the THSO in 2000-01, the Terre Haute Youth Symphony, now directed by Chris Ludwa, utilizes the resources of its parent organization and provides a wonderful outlet for young musicians in the community.  Foreshadowing this close bond between the two groups was a side-by-side performance of  An American Girl, a new work by Daniel McCarthy.  An ISU faculty member from 1991 to 2000 and conductor of the Youth Orchestra during the 1999-2000 season, McCarthy led the combined forces for the premiere of the aforementioned work on February 26, 2000.  In the past six seasons, Daniel Powers has not only skillfully arranged numerous Christmas tunes for the Holiday concerts but has also composed the following works for subscription concerts:  Sinfonietta (April 30, 1997); Reliquary (Concerto for Piano and Orchestra), premiered by his wife Martha Krasnican (March 28, 1998); City Life (April 17, 1999); Overture (March 21, 2000); Tower Music (March 24, 2001); and A Starry Messenger (September 29, 2001).  

            As the current season might suggest, local soloists still contribute greatly to each season.  In fact, saxophonist Paul Bro and cellist Kurt Fowler—both faculty members of the ISU music department—will appear in a featured for the second time in the past five seasons.  In addition, William Hughes, William Denton and Peggy Balensuela have recently been scheduled for return appearances.  Outside talent has again been put on display with performances by soprano Angela Brown (September 21, 1997, and October 25, 1997), pianist Dickran Atamian (September 30, 2000) and The Lettermen (October 22, 1999), a vocal trio of popular appeal.  Furthermore, local audiences have been reunited with several familiar faces.  First of all, Ramon Meyer returned to Tilson to conduct the first half of the concert on March 27, 1999, featuring soprano Mary Downing.  In celebration of the Centennial of Gershwin’s birth, pianist Richard Glazier (a guest on November 11, 1995) played the composer’s Piano Concerto in F on October 3, 1998.                     

            In addition to special features, standards works from the symphonic repertoire have been well represented during Bowden’s tenure.  Among the orchestral works of large dimensions are Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (March 28, 1997), Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (March 24, 2001) and Symphony No. 4 (November 7, 1998), Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 (February 26, 2000); Holst’s The Planets (September 29, 2001); Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (March 23, 2002); and Copland’s Symphony No. 3, another Centennial concert on November 3, 2000.                      

            After seventy-five years of hard work and dedication, the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra is now celebrating its own anniversary.  As evidenced by this promising season of 2001-02, the orchestra has kept in touch with its roots through the continued contribution of local musicians, some in featured roles.  Although its directorship is no longer a joint appointment with Indiana State University, the orchestra has always depended on musical leadership from faculty members.  Unlike the original group, the ensemble of the present day includes many musicians from other areas, particularly Bloomington.  This merely reflects a change in society, and, as a result, has kept the orchestra in pace with its counterparts in communities of comparable size.  Regardless, the end result is a paid orchestra that presents programs with major works and skillful soloists.  At the same time, inventive programming draws from the rich musical life of the community.  With generous donations from businesses and individuals and continued support from loyal audience members, this community can enjoy the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra for many years to come.                 

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