This orchestra came into being in Sacramento, California, when an ensemble of musicians from the local area were put together in 1948.
The orchestra quickly made a name for themselves and were joined by the music director and founder of the Sacramento Youth Symphony Fritz Berens in the mid-1950s. He remained with them until the early to mid 1960s.
In 1965 Harry Newstone took on the position of director and it was during his 13 year tenure that they changed their residence to the city’s Memorial Auditorium. He was succeeded in 1979 by Carter Nice who remained with them through the mid-1980s when they began to have severe financial difficulty and filed for bankruptcy on several occasions.
Carter Nice left the orchestra in 1992. and that same year the CD Sacramento Symphony in Performance appeared on the shelves with selected appearances by Music Director Candidates that had been recorded from August 1991 to February 1992.
The orchestra kept going with the aid of public, business and local government assistance but eventually it was unable to carry on and finally closed down in 1997.
The musicians, however, were fortunate in that they were kept together as members of the new Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra which was being formed and after a rocky first couple of seasons, they are now a much respected national orchestra.
The works and symphonic scores that were owned by the orchestra were preserved in storage for many years but are now managed by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and owned by the City of Sacramento. They are now housed at Sacramento University’s Archives and the library’s Special Collections where they are made locally available to the performing arts and students.
Sources:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Philharmonic_Orchestra
- http://www.csus.edu/bulletin/bulletin021207/bulletin021207symphony.stm
- http://artsamerica.org/venue-posts/sacramento-philharmonic-orchestra/#anchor
- http://www.allmusic.com/album/sacramento-symphony-in-performance-mw0001833985