Founded in 1921, the Greater Trenton Symphony
Orchestra is New Jersey's oldest professional
symphony orchestra. In the past eight decades, the
GTSO has introduced the experience of live
orchestral music to generations of New Jersey
audiences numbering in the hundreds of
thousands.
Over the years, the
GTSO performed with some of the twentieth century's
greatest artists including opera singers Kirsten
Flagstad, Lauritz Melchior, Eleanor Steber and
Placido Domingo, pianists Gary Graffman and Ruth
Laredo, and composer/conductor Maurice Durufle', among many
others. In recent years, the orchestra has performed
with or presented concerts by popular singers Sarah
Brightman, Barbara Cook and Ben E. King, trumpeter Doc Severinsen and actor John
Lithgow.
In
1932, the GTSO moved from its original home at the
"old" Crescent Shrine Temple Auditorium in
Trenton to the newly-opened 1800-seat Trenton War
Memorial Auditorium. For the next 62 years, the
orchestra performed an annual series of concerts at
the War Memorial each season until the hall closed
for extensive renovations in early 1994. During the
five-year period of the renovations, the orchestra
performed in two alternate Trenton locations: the
"new" Crescent Shrine Temple Auditorium
and Trinity Cathedral.
In
December of 1998, the GTSO reopened the War Memorial
Theater with a series of special preview concerts and a pair
of Rededication concerts in March of 1999. In
October of 1999, the GTSO performed a special gala
concert celebrating the opening concert at Trenton's
new 10,000-seat, $60 million Sovereign Bank Arena at
Mercer County. In October of 2001, members of the
GTSO were invited to perform with actor John Lithgow
at New York's Carnegie Hall in a pair of children's
concerts presented for the children and families
directly affected by the World Trade Center
disaster.
Throughout
its long and distinguished history, the GTSO has
been a leading force in the establishment and
development of audiences for the performing arts in
New Jersey's state capital.
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The
Mission of the Greater Trenton Symphony Orchestra
is:
- to provide Trenton
and its surrounding communities with a
locally-based cultural / educational / musical
institution which serves the Capital City
community by producing professional quality
orchestra concerts each season in the city of
Trenton and the surrounding communities;
-
to
project a positive image of the city of Trenton
throughout the local community, the region, the
state and the region;
-
to
provide a venue for the finest
professional-caliber
soloists, conductors and composers from the
Greater Trenton area and throughout the state of
New Jersey, thereby enhancing the image of the
city, and establishing an identity of Trenton as
an important cultural center in the state and
the region;
-
to
promote an awareness and appreciation of
high-quality music of all styles and periods,
including the music of the great European
symphonic composers as well as the music of
America's leading composers;
-
to
interface and collaborate with other non-profit
charitable, cultural and community-service
organizations in the Trenton area and throughout
the state of New Jersey which have goals which
are compatible with those of the GTSO, through
the presentation of collaborative musical events
which will benefit the community; and
-
to
create new audiences for the arts in New
Jersey's state capital.
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