An Introduction to the Harrisburg Symphony Blog

Hi - and welcome to the new Harrisburg Symphony Blog!

There are lots of concerts to attend - that’s what a symphony orchestra does: give concerts. And you’ll be able to find out more about these concerts here on the blog – information about the music, some background to the composers and their works and the artists you’ll hear perform it – as well as having a chance to go backstage and behind-the-scenes.

But there are many other things that go on beyond the concerts and I’ll be letting you know about some educational projects and other activities and performances in the community, not just the subscription concerts.

Stuart Malina, the music director of the Harrisburg Symphony, and I plan to sit down and talk about the music on the programs, podcasts you can listen to that will enhance your experience with the up-coming concerts.

There will be posts about issues that may affect the classical music world and chances - through the comments – for you to express your opinions on some topics that may affect our very own classical music world in Harrisburg.

We’ll feature profiles of individual musicians who make up the larger entity we call an orchestra – ranging from some who were part of it when I became involved off-stage with them almost 30 years ago to some of the newer members who’ve only recently become a part of it.

My own history with the orchestra goes back to my childhood. I attended my first concert with the Harrisburg Symphony in 1963 when I was 13 years old, so you can say I’ve grown up with the orchestra which has grown a great deal since then, celebrating its 80th Season in 2009-2010. After years of college, grad school and teaching, I returned to Harrisburg in 1980 and began writing program notes before becoming the assistant conductor, the personnel and orchestra manager, initiating the pre-concert talks and even writing and arranging some music for performances. So I’m pretty familiar with the organization that is the Harrisburg Symphony as well as the music they play. So I’m really excited to be bringing it to you on-line with “Dr. Dick’s Harrisburg Symphony Blog.”

I should mention it’s not my intent to “review” concerts – I’ll tell you about them after-the-fact but I'm uncomfortable critiquing them in this forum (no pun intended) – and the opinions expressed here are mine, not necessarily those of the Harrisburg Symphony or its members. That’s just “the usual disclaimer,” you know?

But however you follow the blogs you enjoy reading – whether it’s one or a dozen or more – add this to your feed or your reader or your favorites and keep checking in with us.

- Dr. Dick