Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Neighbor

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, currently in its 69th season, is one of America’s leading Orchestras. It performs great music, presents leading artists, educates, and engages music lovers. The ASO serves as the cornerstone for artistic development and music education in the southeast. It performs more than 200 concerts each year for a combined audience of more than a half million in a full schedule of performances. It also reaches more than 67,000 students and underserved members of the community through its education and community outreach programs.

The Orchestra is known for the excellence of its live performances, presentations, renowned choruses, and its impressive list of GRAMMY® Award-winning recordings. Since September 2001, the Orchestra and its audiences have together explored a creative mix of programming, including Theater of a Concert performances, which explore different formats, settings, and enhancements for the musical performance experience. Another example is the Atlanta School of Composers, which reflects Mr. Spano and the Orchestra’s commitment to nurturing and championing music through multi-year partnerships defining a new generation of American composers. Since the beginning of his tenure (to date), Mr. Spano and the Orchestra have performed more than 100 concerts containing contemporary works (composed since 1950). By the end of the 2012-13 season, Mr. Spano and the Orchestra will have performed 16 Orchestra-commissioned world premieres and 14 additional world premieres, including 10 fanfares performed in the 2010-11 season in honor of the 10th anniversary of the artistic partnership between Robert Spano and Donald Runnicles and 10 years of the Atlanta School of Composers. 

During its 32-year history with Telarc, the Orchestra and Chorus recorded more than 100 albums and their recordings have won 27 GRAMMY® Awards in categories including Best Classical Album, Best Orchestral Performance, Best Choral Performance, and Best Opera Performance. The Orchestra continues to record regularly on its new in-house label, ASO Media, which demonstrates the Orchestra’s commitment to celebrating classical masterworks while continuing to perform commission, premiere, and record with some of today's leading composers.

A recognized leader and supporter of contemporary American music, the Orchestra received the 2007 award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. In addition, Music Director Robert Spano was named Musical America 2008 Conductor of the Year. With the opening of the 12,000-seat Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park (vzwamp.com) in May 2008, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra became the first U.S. orchestra to annually perform and present in its concert hall, and in two amphitheaters. In Summer 2008, the Orchestra celebrated 35 years at legendary Chastain Park Amphitheater, the award-winning 6,500 seat venue in Atlanta, during the Orchestra’s annual Delta Classic Chastain concert series (deltaclassicchastain.com).