Sixty-eight years ago, a small group of musical enthusiasts meeting in Woodstock convinced each other that by working together, they could assemble the necessary musical and financial resources from across rural Vermont to create a statewide symphony orchestra. At their center was an inspiring young conductor named Alan Carter, fresh from musical studies in Cologne and Paris, and eager to lead the effort. In the fall of 1934, Carter began to gather the scattered musical forces of this rural state to try to fulfill that dream, and in the process became the first music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.
Right from the start, the VSO was extraordinary in its unique mission. Whereas most other orchestras originate in a single town or city, performing there in one concert hall and touring occasionally, the Vermont Symphony Orchestra dedicated itself to traveling to any gymnasium, armory, racetrack or hillside where an audience could be found. The musicians, whose numbers included barbers, lawyers, mail carriers, doctors and farmers, came from all across the state to rehearse and perform. Before the advent of modern highways, this represented an extraordinary commitment.
The highlights of those early years included an invitation in 1939 to perform at the New York World’s Fair, the formation of a Vermont Festival of the Arts two years later, and, at the conclusion of World War II, the founding of a contemporary composers’ conference.
In observance of its fiftieth birthday, the VSO and its second music director, Efrain Guigui, envisioned a two-year musical journey which would literally realize Carter’s dream. To commemorate a half-century of music-making, to recognize that the VSO was the first state-supported orchestra in the nation, and to dramatize the fact that the VSO does belong to all of the people of Vermont, the Orchestra held musical birthday parties in every one of the state’s 251 cities and towns between 1984 and 1986. The "251 Project" as it became known, brought the VSO -- in various configurations from small ensembles to the full orchestra -- to historic town halls, churches, parks and schools in every corner of the state, giving many Vermonters a chance to hear their own orchestra for the first time.
The response was overwhelming. In addition to bringing joy to the audiences and musicians who participated, the concept engendered interest from all over the world. The VSO story was told in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, on NBC's Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, CBS's Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt, over NPR's All Things Considered, and on the overseas network of Voice of America.
The appointment of Kate Tamarkin as the VSO’s third-ever music director in 1991 represented another important milestone in the Orchestra's development. Public and critical acclaim for her work with the Orchestra was excellent, and audiences responded by attending concerts in record numbers. Programming was once accessible and challenging, and her work with Vermont artists, as well as world-class performers, made each one of her performances an exciting event. She was also responsible for the formation of the VSO’s acclaimed statewide volunteer chorus.
In 1999, Jaime Laredo was named Music Director. Jaime Laredo is known worldwide in the multiple roles of violinist, conductor, recitalist and chamber musician. He has performed with orchestras including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia, and with such conductors as Barenboim, Mehta, Ozawa, Slatkin, and Colin Davis. Laredo, who makes his home in Guilford, Vermont, has appeared with the VSO on a regular basis since the 1991/1992 season, when he and his wife, cellist Sharon Robinson, were invited by Kate Tamarkin to perform the Brahms Double Concerto with the Orchestra.
While the Orchestra has grown over the years, its basic philosophy and much about its operation has remained the same. The steps taken by a farsighted Vermont legislature of 1939 (to provide $1,000 for a performance at the New York World’s Fair), have been followed by subsequent lawmakers, so that today the legislature continues to be a major source of funding. The VSO is the oldest state-supported orchestra in the country. Volunteer committees are still crucial to the symphony’s existence: as in the past, they generate enthusiasm and awareness, sell tickets and raise funds, accommodate musicians in private homes, and are integral to the overall production of concerts in every community. And the musicians still travel many hours, often in bad weather, to get to rehearsals and concerts.
At the same time, the organization’s impact on the people of Vermont is greater than ever before. In 2001/2002 SymphonyKids reached 25,830 students in 94 schools in 78 different communities through 186 performances. An additional 52 towns participated by busing their children to magnet locations.
The orchestra’s season begins with the annual Made in Vermont Music Festival, which brings a chamber orchestra to smaller venues in ten different towns during peak foliage. A five-concert subscription series takes place at the Flynn Center in Burlington and selected other locations between October and May. The VSO also tours the state with a pops festival late June through mid-July, accompanying family picnics in many of Vermont’s most beautiful outdoor settings.
It is the wide geographic distribution of these performances which best tells the story of the VSO. For 68 years, the Orchestra has shuttled from town to town, overcoming geography with such energy and persistence that it has earned a national reputation. The VSO is a unique shared resource among America’s orchestras, belonging to the communities it serves.
