User:Fareforward/Lexington Symphony

Founded as the Lexington Sinfonietta in 1995 by conductor Hisao Watanabe, the Lexington Symphony is a group of dedicated musicians from the Lexington, MA area. The symphony offers programming to reach all ages and puts an emphasis on accessibility within the community.

The Lexington Symphony performs a subscription series of Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon concerts each year in Lexington, including an April event linked to the town's historic heritage and Patriots' Day celebration.

The Lexington Symphony frequently features gifted artists from the local area in its performances, such as Lexington residents and teachers Magdalena Richter, violinist, Sarah Takagi, pianist, Epp Sonin, soprano, Paul Carlson, pianist, and Thomas Stumpf, pianist, as well as talented high school students, including participants in Project STEP.

Other recent soloists include Irina Muresanu, Janna Baty, Gail Williams, Gale Fuller, Stefan Jackiw , and Jobey Wilson. The 2009-2010 season features Roger Tapping (formerly of the Takács Quartet), George Li, and Stephanie Chase as well as guest conductor Courtney Lewis.

Community Outreach
Lexington Symphony members connect to the community with events ranging from the biennial Children’s Workshop and Concert to open rehearsals and workshops with world-class artists such as Gail Williams and Stefan Jackiw. In 2009, the orchestra launched an interactive program for children called “Orchestrating Kids Through Classics” with a performance in Cary Hall in Lexington which was attended by third grade classes in the Lexington Public Schools.

The Lexington Symphony is a partner in Music Matters, a program organized by the Massachusetts Teacher’s Association and WCRB, which brings Lexington Symphony musicians to elementary schools throughout the Commonwealth. Members of the orchestra visit classes, demonstrate their instruments, and have the kids try it themselves. Check out the article from the Dec 2008/Jan 2009 issue of MTA Today, a publication of the Massachusetts Teachers Association.

In addition, smaller ensembles from the orchestra perform community outreach performances throughout the year as the Lexington Symphony Chamber Players. Local performances have taken place at the Lexington Historical Society's Munroe and Buckman Taverns, Depot Square Gallery, SAGE at Temple Isaiah, the Arts Walk and Shopper's Night, and Fiske Elementary School. Performance venues outside Lexington include MIT, Tufts and Brandeis. The Chamber Players have collaborated with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in presentation of a lecture on early American instruments by Darcy Kuronen, the MFA's Curator of Musical Instruments, at Lexington's National Heritage Museum.

Jonathan McPhee
Jonathan McPhee is the Music Director and conductor of the Lexington Symphony. Mr. McPhee is also Music Director of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, Boston Ballet Orchestra, and the Nashua Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in New Hampshire.

Recent guest engagements include the Portland Symphony Orchestra, Plymouth Philharmonic, Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife in Spain, and the Lithuanian National Orchestra. Mr. McPhee has also appeared with the BBC Scottish Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, the Louisiana Philharmonic, The Hague Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre Colonne (Paris), the National Philharmonic in London, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway, among others. Mr. McPhee has conducted for many of the world's premier dance companies, including the New York City Ballet, The Royal Ballet (England), Martha Graham Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, and the Australian Ballet. In addition, Mr. McPhee has also conducted opera, appearing with Opera Boston, the American Opera Center in New York, and Boston University Opera, and further extends his diverse repertoire with pops concerts, musical theatre and operetta.

Mr. McPhee's works as an arranger and composer are in the repertoires of orchestras and ballet companies around the world. His edition of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring is the only authorized reduced orchestration of this work. Mr. McPhee's compositions and arrangements are published by Boosey & Hawkes, Inc. and his edition of Stravinsky's complete Firebird for Boosey & Hawkes was recently performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony.

An active educator of both music and ballet, Mr. McPhee is an Artistic Advisor for Young Audiences of Massachusetts and his work with Boston's WCRB-FM on "Kids' Classical Hour" resulted in a 1998 Gabriel Award.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. McPhee received his L.R.A.M. from the London Royal Academy of Music and a B.M. and M.M. from the Juilliard School. While at Juilliard, Mr. McPhee was the recipient of a Naumburg Scholarship in Conducting and English Horn. He has studied with Leonard Brain, David Diamond, Thomas Stacy, Rudolf Kempe, Sixten Ehrling, and participated in master classes with Sir Georg Solti and James Levine at Juilliard.