Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is a full-time professional chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In collaboration with five Artistic Partners, the orchestra's musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs each year in over 14 venues throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. They are regularly heard on American Public Media's nationally syndicated radio programs "Performance Today" and SymphonyCast.

The orchestra's recording of Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring at Sound 80 studios was one of the earliest digital audio recordings to see commercial release.

Beginning with the 2004–05 season, the SPCO adopted a new artistic model by eliminating the position of music director and creating positions for several Artistic Partners, prominent established musicians. Under this model the SPCO musicians have a much higher degree of artistic control.

Launched in 1995, the SPCO's CONNECT education program reaches 6,000 students annually in 16 Minneapolis and Saint Paul Public Schools. The orchestra's activities are supported by the Friends of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Artistic partners

 * Joshua Bell (2004–07)
 * Stephen Prutsman (2004–07)
 * Nicholas McGegan (2004–09)
 * Pierre-Laurent Aimard (2006–09)
 * Douglas Boyd (2003–09)
 * Dawn Upshaw (2007–13)
 * Edo de Waart (2010–14)
 * Roberto Abbado (2005–15)
 * Christian Zacharias (2009–16)
 * Thomas Zehetmair (2010–17)
 * Jeremy Denk (2014–present)
 * Patricia Kopatchinskaja (2014–present)
 * Martin Fröst (2014–present)
 * Pekka Kuusisto (2016–present)
 * Jonathan Cohen (2016–present)

Artistic leadership

 * Leopold Sipe (Music Director, 1959–71)
 * Dennis Russell Davies (Music Director, 1972–80)
 * Pinchas Zukerman (Music Director, 1980–87)
 * Stanisław Skrowaczewski (Interim Music Advisor, 1987–88)
 * Christopher Hogwood (Music Director, 1988–92)
 * Hugh Wolff (Principal Conductor, 1988–92; Music Director, 1992–2000)
 * Bobby McFerrin (Creative Chair, 1994–99)
 * Andreas Delfs (Music Director, 2001–04)
 * Kyu-Young Kim (Artistic Director, 2016–present)

2012-2013 lockout
In October 2012, after months of negotiations between orchestra musicians and management, the SPCO locked out its union musicians. Six months later, musicians approved a three-year labor agreement that cut their pay by $15,000 per year, reduced the SPCO from 34 to 28 players and offered buyouts to musicians 55 years and older.

Friends of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
The Friends of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is a nonprofit cultural and educational organization based in Saint Paul. It was founded in 1975 by Lola May Thompson and Patricia Whitacre with the mission to support the activities of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and incorporated in 1984. It is one of the longest continuously operating auxiliary organizations for a professional orchestra in the U.S.

Activities and awards
The Friends of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra sponsors fundraising events, audience development events, classes in music appreciation, and biannual group tours of major musical centers in Europe. It has won several awards from national arts organizations, including the 1996 "Outstanding Benefit of the Year" award from the League of American Orchestras for a fund-raising event organized by past presidents Kay Bendel and Betty Reichert in an airplane hangar at the downtown St. Paul airport. In 2003, the Friends of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra won a Silver Ribbon from the same organization for its public classes in music appreciation under the supervision of the musicologist Daniel E. Freeman.

Awards and recognitions

 * Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance: Dennis Russell Davies (conductor) & The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra for Copland: Appalachian Spring (1980)
 * ASCAP awards for Programming of Contemporary Music, including 2011 and 2014