ABBA

The Music Director Marc Mostovoy established this ensemble as the Concerto Soloists in 1964 with its name deriving from performances by its virtuosi musicians (which numbered les than twenty at the time) as both ensemble members and soloists. Influences by the chamber orchestras of Mozart and Bach their performances centred around the Baroque and Classical repertoire but over time though more than sixty works were commissioned for them by Mostovy and many lesser known works from the 19^th and 20^th century were also performed.

Before long they began to become recognised on a national and international level. The embarked on successful American, European and Middle Eastern tours and were acclaimed for their concerts staged at Carnegie Hall.

From 1982 when their popularity had significantly grown, Mostovoy brought in Max Rudolf, who had previously conducted the Metropolian Opera and Cincinnati Symphony. Rudolf became the ensemble’s conductor laureate and remained in that position until the mid 1990s. They also appeared on recordings such as Ave Maria: Christmas Favourites, Handel: Roman Vespers, Gloria! Gloria!, Joy to the World Silent Nights.

From 1994 Ignat Solzhenitsyn, who is the son of the author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, joined them as an Assistant Conductor but quickly became an Associate Conductor. He was instrumental in enlarging their repertoire to include a wide variety of musical genres and increasing the size of the ensemble. In 1998 he became the Principal Conductor and took the position of Music Director in 2004. In 2010 Dirk Brosse, who also had the unenviable task of improving their ailing finances, took his place as Music Director.

When 2000 came around they changed their name to The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and became one of the eight companies chosen to be resident at the city’s The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, giving their performances at the Perelman Theater.

Continuing to tour through the 2000s they have performed countless concerts and toured in the All-Beethoven Programme in 2005. They have more than 70 commissions and premieres under their belt and continue to perform on a national and international basis.

Some of the past and present member include:

Thomas Acock (viola)

Hector Corpus Aguilar (violin)

Richard Amoroso (violin)

Liliana Ciulei-Atanasiu (violin)

Mei-Chen Liao Barnes (Cope) (Associate concertmaster)

Jonathan Blumenfeld (oboe)

Emmanuelle Boisvert (violin)

Sophie Brune (harp)

Agnes Chawluck (viola)

Yan Chin (violin)

Carol Coade (viola)

James J. Cooper III (cello)

George Corbett (oboe)

Barbara Creider (viola)

Alexandra Cutler-Fetkewicz (violin)

Miles B. Davis (double bass)

Richard Deane (horn)

Geoffrey Deemer (oboe)

Sarah DuBois (violin)

Elizabeth Euler (violin)

Charles Forbes (cello)

Samuel Formicola (violin)

Dorothy Freeman (oboe/English horn)

Stephanie Greenberg (viola)

Pamela Guidetti (flute)

Doris Hall-Gulati (clarinet)

Carole Hall (flute)

Elizabeth Hegyi (violin)

Martha Hitchins (timpani)

James Holesovsky (cello)

Barbara Hosler (cello)

Gloria Justen (Concertmaster)

Elizabeth Kaderabek (violin)

Jeremy Kesselman (oboe)

Elissa Lee Kokkonen (violin)

Cynthia Koledo-DeAlmeida (oboe/English horn)

Philip Kramp (viola)

Maria Kucirko (harp)

Peter Kucirko (cello)

Brian Kuszyk (trumpet)

Michelle LaCourse (viola)

Alexandra Leem (viola)

Adam Lesnick (horn)

Mei Mei Luo (violin)

Rodney Mack (trumpet)

Robert Martin (violin)

Karin Meyer (bassoon)

Kenneth Miller (percussion)

Mu Na (violin)

Hirono Oka (violin)

Temple Painter (harpsichord)

Mi Young Park (violin)

Anne Peterson (double bass)

Barbara Sauer Prugh (trumpet)

Michael Stairs (organ)

Harold Hall Robinson (contrabass)

Michelle Rosen (bassoon)

Donna Rudolph (violin)

Arne Running (clarinet)

Karen Schubert (horn)

Edward Schultz (flute)

Jacob Smith (bassoon)

John David Smith (horn)

Joseph Smith (clarinet)

Laurie Sonsino (violin)

Norman Spielberg (bassoon)

Sarah Sutton (viola)

Rie Suzuki (flute)

Igor Szwec (violin)

Steven Tanzer (piccolo)

Frances Tate (flute)

Elzabeth Thompson (cello)

Ellen Trainer (viola)

Amnon Valk (violin)

Sarah Wetherbee (viola)

Belinda Whitney (violin)

Benita Valente & The Philadelphia Singers recordings

Adeste Fidelis (John Francis Wade)

RCA 6559-2-RC (Gloria! Gloria!)

Soprano – Benita Valente

Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Singers

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