DPO History

A new slogan for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra – Where Dayton Comes Together – signified hope and excite­ment, as the organization under Jackson’s leadership set out to face new challenges. During March and April of 1990, with the goal of reaching out to different parts of the community, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra premiered the series “Focus on Our Heritage.” Special concerts, including pianist André Watts and the DPO’s first Gospel Concert, highlighted the series.

In January of 1990, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO) participated in the much-anticipated Viva Victoria, a grand opening of the newly renovated Victoria Theatre, televised live on PBS Channel 16. Marked for demolition, the Victoria narrowly escaped the wrecking ball before it gained a listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The DPO had performed there from 1935-43.

At a concert in January of 1991 following the U.S. entry into the Gulf War, Isaiah Jackson led the audience in a silent prayer. During intermission, concertgoers heard a speech by President George H.W. Bush broadcast at Memorial Hall. That same year, Marvin Hamlisch joined the DPO for the Pavilion Preview Gala Pops Concert at the brand-new Fraze Pavilion for the Performing Arts located in Lincoln Park Center in Kettering.

André Watts

In 1991 following the retirement of William Scutt, assistant concertmaster Xiao-Guang Zhu became director of the Junior String Orchestra (JSO). A native of Beijing, China and a graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, before moving to the U.S. in 1987 Zhu had been associate conductor of the Beijing Youth Symphony. Zhu directed the JSO through seven seasons and served as acting concertmaster for the DPO during one season.

In the autumn of ’91, the Dayton Daily News featured an article about the audition process for membership in the Dayton Philharmonic Chorus. The story focused on the highly selective process and the extensive musical backgrounds of many of the volunteer vocalists, who each year vie for a chance at performing with the DPO. Mert Adams, chorus manager for 18 years, said of the DPO Chorus, “The group has a great love and loyalty to the organization. They are like a family.”

Xiao-Guang Zhu

Twenty years after violinist Pinchas Zukerman appeared as a guest soloist under Paul Katz, he returned as conductor and soloist for the season opener in 1992. That winter, the Arcade – an indoor shopping market with historic and architectural significance – re-opened during the holiday season with a full schedule of events, including performances by the JSO and the Carillon Brass. The brass quintet, featuring Steve Anderson, Richard Chenoweth, Walt Oliver, Charles Pagnard, and Steve Winteregg had recently toured China at the invitation of Chinese officials. 1992 also saw the creation of a new position within the DPO management team; Matthew Borger was named Orchestra Manager. Today he serves as Director of Operations.

Music Director Isaiah Jackson in his third season

In 1993, the DPO celebrated its 60th anniversary season. The season opened with guest artist Daniel Binelli playing the bandoneon. This marked the first time anyone ever played a bandoneon, an instrument that resembles a concertina and accordion, in a DPO concert. In 1993, by performing the composition, Serenata – written by DPO violist Philip Magnuson – the JSO also celebrated its 10th anniversary. Sonia Goldfarb retired and received special recognition for her contributions to the youth programs. Gloria Pugh became the new Director of Education and continues in that position today. In November of that year, by performing at the 25th anniversary of the Beerman Foundation Annual Community Thanksgiving Day Dinner members of the DPO donated their time and talents to the less fortunate.

In August of 1994 after a seven month search, 30-year-old Curtis Long, Executive Director of the Delaware Symphony, became Executive Director of the DPO. A graduate of the American Symphony Orchestra League fellowship program, Long arrived just seven weeks before the opening of the 1994-95 season.

Junior String Orchestra in the Arcade, 1992

1994 would feature five young guest conductors, one to be selected as the new DPO music director. The five finalists had been chosen from over 200 applications. Providing patrons with a voice, the DPO requested reviews of the five finalists for the position of music director. Following each debut, the DPO asked concertgoers to rate the conductors’ effectiveness, rapport, and performance by completing an audition evaluation included in their program. The five accomplished conductors vying for the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra position included Gisele Ben-Dor of the Annapolis Symphony, Keith Lockhart of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Steven Byess of the Cobb Symphony Orchestra, Neal Gittleman of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and David Lockington of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Pinchas Zuckerman

Following a DPO 18-month search, Neal Gittleman became the Orchestra’s fourth music director. Gittleman, a Yale University graduate, had served as Music Director of the Marion (Indiana) Philharmonic, Associate Conductor of the Syracuse Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, and Associate Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for ten seasons. He studied with Nadia Boulanger and Annette Dieudonne in Paris, with Hugh Ross at the Manhattan School of Music, and with Charles Bruck at both the Pierre Monteux School and the Hartt School of Music, where he was a Karl Böhm Fellow.

DPO musicians, Beerman Foundation dinner,1993

“My Mission as the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra’s next music director is to take a very good orchestra and make it a great orchestra; to improve its performance on stage, to increase its presence in the community, and to make it a positive force in all our lives. I will do everything I can to meet that challenge. You have my word on it. And I expect you to hold me to my word.”
– Neal Gittleman, Dayton Daily News Letter-to-the-Editor

Curtis Long accepts check from Jerry Hauer, Hauer Music, 1995

Gittleman had won Second Prize at the 1984 Ernest Ansermet International Conducting Competition in Geneva and took Third Prize at the 1986 Leopold Stokowski Conducting Competition in New York. He received national recognition for his Classical Connections programs, which provided a “…behind the scenes” look at great works of orchestra repertoire. Today, this innovative program has become a vital part of the DPO’s concert season.

In 1994, the 1st Annual PhilharMonster debuted near Halloween. Willie Waters guest-conducted the family concert that has become a favorite of audiences of all ages. Neal Gittleman has since conducted the PhilharMonster, delighting the crowd with costumes ranging from a gorilla to Superman. By 1997, the popular PhilharMonster became part of a new series of concerts – the Family Concerts.

Neal Gittleman's audition,1994

Board President Lou Mason saw the latest youthful invasion in management as an opportunity for the Orchestra to grow with new ideas and in new directions. A 1994-95 season program contained a letter from Mason informing patrons about a “Town Meeting” where attendees expressed thoughts regarding a new concert hall. Lou and her husband, Steve, were catalysts who believed that a new venue was essential to Dayton’s cultural future. Together, they joined a group of visionaries who were instrumental in encouraging the city to investigate options. Eventually, they also brought this need to the attention of Benjamin and Marian Schuster.

DPO Music Director Neal Gittleman

At its spring concert at Wright State University in 1995, the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (DPYO) bid farewell to Dr. William Steinohrt. After a 17-year tenure with the organization and Dayton’s cold winters, Steinohrt relocated to Hawaii. A conductor search took place during the 1995-96 season, and the DPO eventually chose Peter Ciaschini, concertmaster of the DPO, to lead the group. Ciaschini directed the DPYO for three years with one year off for a leave of absence.

Receptions in the lobby of Memorial Hall honored Isaiah Jackson following the May 1995 concerts that featured Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, also known as Symphony of a Thousand. The spectacular season finale celebrated Jackson’s eight-year tenure with the DPO and included the Dayton Philharmonic Chorus, several college choral groups, area church choirs, the Dayton Boys Choir, and the Kettering Children’s Choir.

DPO String Quartet at Bach's Lunch, mid-1990s

In the summer of 1995, to mark Neal Gittleman’s conducting debut as new music director of the DPO General Motors sponsored a free concert at the Fraze Pavilion. The event also showcased the 1996 line-up of new GM cars and trucks. Gittleman appropriately and unforgettably arrived on stage in a Corvette convertible. Following his first concerts in Dayton, headlines read: “Gittleman opens ‘new era’ for Philharmonic” – Downtowner; “Gittleman makes charming entrance to arts scene” – Oakwood Register; “Gittleman’s debut reveals new sound” – Dayton Daily News.

Isaiah, Neal, 1995

For a weekly Where’s Neal? Contest, the new maestro’s sense of humor allowed radio station WLQT (Lite FM 99.9) to hide a life-size cutout of him. The Al & Marge column in the Dayton Daily News tracked Cutout-Neal’s whereabouts and listed rhyming clues. If the DPO management was looking for someone to integrate himself into the community, aggressively represent the organization, and unify the Orchestra, it too had located its man.

Upon the retirement of Clark Haines, Jeffrey Powell conducted the Dayton Philharmonic Chorus. Powell, who also served as a rehearsal conductor for the DPO, was Artistic Administrator, Chorus Master, and Music Director of the Artist-in-Residence program for the Dayton Opera. In 1996, Hank Dahlman, associate professor of music and director of choral studies at Wright State University, assumed leadership of the chorus. By singing as a member of the chorus, Gittleman participated in Dahlman’s selection. Dahlman holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

"Where's Neal" life-size cutout and PhilharMonster patron

Kicking off Celebrate Dayton ’96, a yearlong series of events commemorating the city’s bicentennial, the DPO presented a Viennese New Year’s Eve Concert, although the music was not exclusively Viennese. To honor the city, Steve Winteregg – DPO tuba principal and native Daytonian, wrote the opening selection, Fanfare for a City. The following year, the DPO premiered Breathless, another Winteregg composition.

In 1996, the Dayton Philharmonic Women’s Association changed its name to the Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association. Today, several men are part of the organization that boasts almost 350 members and continues to support the Orchestra’s efforts, particularly with education and scholarship programs. With the DPVA’s help, the DPO now reaches an annual audience of over 85,000 students. 1996 also marked the year that the DPO launched its new Crescendo Campaign, a visible fundraising effort that – like a crescendo – made music lovers take notice. This annual fund drive has helped secure the support necessary to increase the quantity and quality of music in the community continually.

DPO Staffer Jane Varella with happy student

A major grant from the Miriam Rosenthal Trust Fund made possible the creation of a summer SuperPops Concert Series at the Fraze Pavilion in Kettering. In 1996, the inaugural concert featured Randy Newman conducting the Orchestra in a selection of his popular hits, including the score from Disney’s computer-animated movie Toy Story. The series had become a mainstay of Dayton’s summer arts scene.

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“The evening’s master of ceremonies was DPO Music Director
Neal Gittleman. Charming and engaging, Gittleman played the
perfect host – the kind who makes sure every glass is full and
every guest is paired.”
– Carol Simmons, review of Viennese New Year’s Eve Concert, Dayton Daily News, 1996
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In 2001, the American Symphony Orchestra League reported that the Dayton Philharmonic presented more school programs than any other orchestra in the United States.

DPO's 1999 CD

Autumn of 1997 marked the inaugural season of the Dayton Philharmonic Classical Connections Series. According to Gittleman, the series “…is a whole new way of presenting orchestral concerts.” He likened the behind-the-scenes atmosphere of these concerts to “Leonard-Bernstein-style-Young- People’s-Concerts-but-for-grown-ups.”

In 1997, SPARK (School Partners with Artists Reaching Kids) – a new program that paired DPO musicians with classrooms at local elementary schools – began on a trial basis. After a five-year pilot project, the enormously successful program took a permanent place among the DPO’s many educational offerings. The program was the result of a study, commissioned by the organization, to determine the arts education needs of the Miami Valley. The DPO is proud to have the distinction of providing more educational programs than any other orchestra in the country – over 1000 annually!

Rike's Department Store implodes, 1999

In a moving tribute, in April of 1998 the DPO honored the late Harley Flack, President of Wright State University, with a movement from Sir Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations as an addition to a regularly scheduled concert. Flack, who had died in March after a five-month battle with cancer, was a noted musician, composer, and active member of the DPO Board of Trustees.

In May of 1998, to benefit the DPO’s education programs and the Caring Program for Children Yo-Yo Ma made a return appearance with the Philharmonic. When asked by Gittleman if he would grant an encore, Ma replied, “I will if you do t’ai chi while I play.” Ma had watched Gittleman’s t’ai chi warm-up backstage before the performance. Not wanting to disappoint local fans, Dayton’s maestro complied, and Ma played Mark O’Connor’s Appalachian Waltz.

Neal Gittleman, Yo Yo Ma, 1998

Retired from the DPO since 1995, Karen Young rejoined the organization in 1998 to assume the responsibility of directing the Junior String Orchestra. Young, an accomplished violinist and educator, has become well-known for her pre-performance comments that help audience members and students understand more about individual composers and music history.

St. Matthew's Passion, 2000 During the 1998-99 season, The theme Power and Emotion brought international sensation Anne Akiko Meyer – the only artist to be the sole recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant – back by popular demand. With a concerto for classical guitar, Dayton’s own “guitarman” Jim McCutcheon made his DPO debut. Programming for this season included several contemporary compositions, including the world premiere of Meira Maxine Warshauer’s Like Streams in the Desert, a work commissioned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the State of Israel. Such innovative programming garnered the DPO an award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for its commitment to new music programming. In 2002, the DPO once again received an ASCAP award for adventurous programming.

Kettering Children's Choir

In February of 1999, a bequest from the estate of long- time DPO supporter Ellen Jane Lorenz Porter made it possible to hold recording sessions for the DPO’s first CD. Adam Abeshouse produced the premiere recording of Tomas Svoboda’s two piano concertos featuring the composer himself on Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 71 and Norman Krieger performing Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 134. During the lengthy process of editing and preparing the package, Abeshouse received a Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Classical Producer. In 2001, the DPO released this long-awaited CD.

Steven Winteregg

In 1911, the cornerstone was laid and construction of Rike’s Department Store completed. 1999 saw the razing of the building at Second and Main, by then called Lazarus. With the help of hundreds of explosives, the old Rike’s building toppled on Sunday, November 7, 1999 to make room for Dayton’s new $121 million arts venue that would bear the names of major contributors Benjamin and Marian Schuster. “Industries of a town feed the stomach. The arts feed the heart,” said Dr. Schuster, a long-time Dayton cardiologist whose generosity matched his insight.

On November 13, 1999 at Memorial Hall, in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord the DPO welcomed the Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra – under the direction of Emir Nuhanovic and principal guest conductor Charles Ansbacher – for an equally historic Concert for Peace. The concert, which launched the Sarajevo Orchestra’s two-week tour of the United States, featured both orchestras, individually and combined.

Following Ciaschini’s departure in 1999, having first won the Principal Second Chair, then the assistant concertmaster chair, Kirstin Greenlaw stepped into the position of acting concertmaster for almost two years. Greenlaw became the first female officially to occupy the concertmaster seat in the DPO’s history. She currently serves as Principal Second Violin.

Neal pitches; Heater bats

In 2000, to help the DPO launch a musical salute to America’s love of sports at Pop Goes Out to the Ballgame, Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Johnny Bench made a guest appearance. Along with local sports figures Ritter Collett, Mike Kelly, and Larry Hansgen, Bench provided the evening’s play-by-play. Later that year, celebrating Dayton’s new baseball team and ballpark, Gittleman shared the conductor’s podium at the PhilharMonster Concert with Heater, the Dayton Dragons’ fire-breathing mascot.

In 2000, Patrick Reynolds became the new conductor for both the Concert Band and the Youth Orchestra. In 1999, Reynolds had begun serving as cover conductor for the DPO. Holding a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music, Reynolds is an associate professor of music at the University of Dayton where he performs on trumpet with the Faculty Brass Trio.

In the fall of 2000, the DPO announced that ticket sales for a full-length presentation of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion were topping the charts. The DPO joined with the Dayton Philharmonic Chorus, Dayton Bach Society, Kettering Children’s Choir, six featured soloists, and eleven minor soloists. The last classical concert to hold such a high record of ticket sales was Isaiah Jackson’s final performance with the Orchestra.

In accordance with tradition, to open the season in September of 2001 the DPO performed The Star Spangled Banner. That evening, many patrons came specifically to hear our nation’s anthem. Not since December of 1941 had anyone deemed it the most important musical selection programmed. Tension was still in the air following what had been the first major acts of terrorism toward our country just one week earlier on September 11. The once somber audience, however, responded with an emotional and uplifting burst of applause. “Our flag was still there.”

Gittleman, Rhythm in Shoes, 2002

In 2001, by awarding a $50,000 grant to help fund a series of commissioned works, each with a flight theme, the National Endowment for the Arts recognized the DPO for its programming efforts. To celebrate the centennial of powered flight and the legacy of Daytonians Wilbur and Orville Wright, along with the North Carolina Symphony and Evansville Philharmonic the DPO led a commissioning consortium for new works by three American composers. During the 2003 centennial, the DPO also performed works by Steven Winteregg and Robert Rodríguez.

Early in the DPO’s Charter Subscription Campaign in 2001, anticipation for the opening of the new performing arts center in Dayton spurred ticket sales in excess of $1 million. Not scheduled to open until the 2002-03 season, the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center provoked excitement, which proved that – in Dayton – the saying, “If you build it, they will come,” was true for arts fans and sports fans alike.

In January of 2002, Lucas Alemán became concertmaster of the DPO. The 25-year-old brought a wealth of experience to the premiere music position. A native of Spain, Alemán had been concertmaster for the Royal Philharmonia of Galicia since 1999 and had studied at the Escuela de Violin Superior de Burgos and at the Hogeschool van Kunsten Utrecht in Holland.

In the summer of 2002, the DPO added the locally based, but nationally renowned, Rhythm in Shoes Dance Company to its list of artistic collaborators for the Sunset Symphony Series at the Fraze Pavilion. At the event, Burt Saidel, long-time patron of the DPO, dedicated the first of two podiums he created for use by the Orchestra. In March of 2003, dedication of the second podium occurred during the Schuster Center opening. Saidel uniquely hand-crafted each podium out of Ohio cherry wood and made each to complement the venue.

An ensemble of DPO brass and percussion musicians performed at Westminster Presbyterian Church, as the community commemorated the one-year anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. That same day, Dayton suffered another great loss; Phyllis Katz, wife and assistant of DPO founder Paul Katz, died at Good Samaritan Hospital. Mrs. Katz had taught piano from her home in North Dayton until her death. For over seventy years, she had contributed greatly to the musical life of Dayton.

Mead Theatre construction, 2002

As 2002 came to a close, progress on the DPO’s spectacular new home – the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center – was obvious. From the street, the most noticeable element of the structure designed by Cesar Pelli and Associates Architects was the glassed-in Wintergarden. Pelli – most famous for designing the world’s tallest building, the Petronas Towers in Kauala Lumpur, Malaysia – also designed Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center for the Arts, which opened in 1995. Jaffe Holden Acoustics, the acoustic engineers on the Schuster Center, have designed the acoustics for some of the world’s most important concert halls, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and Severance Hall, home to The Cleveland Orchestra.

Paying homage to Dayton’s place in the history of flight, the new concert hall has a special Starfield in its grand dome ceiling that is an exact replica of the star pattern Orville and Wilber Wright saw on the night before their first flight. Interestingly, the width of the Starfield is the exact width of the Wright Flyer’s wingspan, and the length from the ground floor of the performing arts center to the tip of the Starfield is the exact distance as the first successful flight made by the Wright Brothers. The Gala Celebration of the Schuster Center encompassed a 24-month time frame during which ribbons were cut, donors recognized, and diverse area arts organizations, including the DPO, had performed.

Mead Theatre under construction Saying good-bye to Memorial Hall was a bittersweet occasion. Home to the DPO for 60 years, memories of this grand building will live on in the hearts of many concertgoers and musicians, especially those who braved an imminent snowstorm on Valentine’s Day 2003 to attend the farewell concert. The Orchestra presented Beethoven’s Consecration of the House, the same selection that opened the first concert at the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center. A Classical Housewarming concert and gala on March 6 and 8, 2003, featuring the talent of guest violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, celebrated and christened the Orchestra’s new home at the Schuster Center. The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra applauds everyone, including the many musicians, employees, sponsors, patrons, and volunteers not mentioned in this written history, for being there from the beginning... and today!