League of American Orchestras

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The League of American Orchestras ( Association of American orchestras ) until the fall of 2007 under the name American Symphony Orchestra League (ASOL) known (German: Bund American Symphony Orchestra ) is an on 21st May 1942 founded Association for the Support of orchestras in the United States . ASOL is headquartered in New York , NY . She has an office in Washington, DC .

The ASOL is a network for representing the interests of its members in public and with business partners. Members of the ASOL can be symphony , chamber , youth or student orchestras of any size. In 2005 ASOL had about 1000 members.

history

ASOL was founded on the initiative of Leta G. Snow (1880–1980), the founder and director of the "Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra", which has existed since 1921. Snow wanted to promote the exchange of experiences and information with other "middle-class" orchestra conductors.

23 people attended the inaugural meeting in Chicago in 1942 . Immediately after it was founded, another 40 orchestras from 17 US states joined ASOL. An Inter-Orchester Bulletin was the first club newspaper to appear from October 1942 to 1948 . The club magazine “Symphonie”, which is now published every two months, is the immediate successor to the first club journal.

In 1950/51, ASOL managed to withdraw the 20% surcharge on all concert tickets in the United States introduced during World War II . The successful campaign cemented ASOL's role as representative of the US orchestras. It was led by Helen M. Thompson, who was named the organization's first full-time president in 1950.

In the mid-1950s, ASOL started its first training events on artistic subjects, but also to provide support in questions of concert management and for leisure orchestras.

ASOL works with various artistic organizations, for example with the “American Art Council”, the “Association of Music Critics” and the “Chamber of Conductors”. The repertoire of the symphonic orchestras is now managed in the "OLIS" database.

Since its inception, ASOL has been supported by many volunteers. In 1964 a “Women's Council” was set up, which in 1980 became the “Volunteer Council”. In 1998 the statutes of the ASOL were changed to the effect that now all free associations of musicians can also become members of the ASOL. In 1975 ASOL founded the “Youth Orchestra Department”, which now has 193 youth orchestras as members, publishes its own magazine and offers specific events and services for this group.

Since 1965 ASOL has also represented its members in legal disputes. In 1981 she achieved the establishment of a state department for art issues.

In 1997, Charles S. Olton was appointed as the seventh president of ASOL. Under his leadership, the Orchestra Leadership Academy (German: Academy for Orchestra Conducting ) was founded in 1999 .

In 2000 a project was started to investigate the motivation of concert goers. One of the results of this project has been a new magazine for concert-goers since 2002. In addition, television is being used more to present orchestras, and the entire public relations work has been adapted to the behavior of the concert-goers.

In July 2003, Henry Fogel became the eighth president, until then he had led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (German: Association of Chicago Symphony Orchestras ) for 18 years .

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