Brooklyn Philharmonic (New York City)

The Brooklyn Philharmonic was founded in 1954 by conductor Siegfried Landau. Mr. Landau programmed many premieres during his tenure and established the orchestra's ongoing tradition of seeking out new and adventurous programming. The orchestra's championship of new work has been continued by Mr. Landau's successors, Lukas Foss, now the orchestra's Conductor Laureate, Dennis Russell Davies and by the current music director, Robert Spano.

In 1996, the orchestra received the American Symphony Orchestra League's Morton Gould Award for Innovative Programming, bestowed annually upon a single American orchestra. That same year, Robert Spano, who was widely credited with bringing the orchestra to serious international attention, was appointed music director. Since Mr. Spano's arrival the orchestra has presented premieres of works by John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Elliott Carter, Philip Glass, Sofia Gubaidulina, Gyla Kancheli, Magnus Lindberg, Steve Reich, Bright Sheng, Stephen Sondheim and Claude Vivier, among others.

The Brooklyn Philharmonic became the resident orchestra of the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1991. One significant past season, which happened to mark the orchestra's 50th anniversary, saw concert performances of The Death of Klinghoffer, John Adams's opera directed by Robert McGrath; Word and Music, featuring readings of the works of Michael Cunningham by the author himself set to the score for the film version of The Hours, composed by Philip Glass; All Things Brooklyn: A Celebration, featuring works by Brooklyn natives including Charles Ives, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland; and the debut of Celebrating Don Quixote, a chamber music opera and late masterpiece of Manuel de Falla that featured elements of Japanese Bunraku Theater and Chinese Shadow Puppetry.

The orchestra also offers an ambitious series of free community concerts, including musical events in schools, museums, churches and other sites throughout the borough. The School-Time Concerts have introduced more than 350,000 children to orchestral music and the concert hall experience since the orchestra's founding. The School Residence Initiative develops curriculum-based workshops at elementary schools, connecting music with other disciplines and allowing children to experience music as composers, performers and listeners. There are also pre- and post-concert discussions, master classes, in-school coaching and free or reduced-price tickets for students and community groups.