In the latter half of the 1930s, Shurtleff College in Upper Alton was the catalyst that resulted in the formation of the Madison County Symphony Orchestra. This Orchestra flourished for several years until World War II when many players left for the service.
About the same time, a brilliant young musician, Elyse
Ahle, moved into town and started a music school. She was a talented, energetic young woman whose students performed regularly in the area. She started an orchestra calling it the Alton Symphony Orchestra. This orchestra existed for a few years and then folded for a lack of personnel just like the Madison County Orchestra had earlier. Miss Ahle then moved to California where she formed and directed another orchestra.
In 1945, immediately after the war, Shurtleff was inundated with young men and women veterans going to school on the GI Bill. Shurtleff engaged Dr. Bethuel Gross, a dynamic young man and a brilliant pianist and organist to be Dean of Students. He maintained a grueling schedule, working at Shurtleff Monday through Thursday, and then commuting to Chicago to conduct choirs as the organist for a large Presbyterian Church.
Dr. Gross conceived of forming another area orchestra. Through contacts in the college, he organized a small core of people interested in music. They included, amongst others, Frank
Vorhees, Lucy Sparks, Ralph Ritchey, Paul Cousley, Dr. Frank M. Boals, and Mitchel
Petruzza. Because the name "Alton Symphony Orchestra" had been used previously, the new orchestra was named the Alton Civic Orchestra and Dr. Frank Boals was elected its first president.
Rehearsals were held in the fourth floor band room of the Alton High School. Instrumentation for the orchestra was somewhat unbalanced since there seemed to be almost as much percussion as strings. Dr. Gross often had the orchestra perform a couple of numbers while he filled in the rest of the program with a strikingly dressed chorus of women singers from Shurtleff College, with him at the piano. Ever the performer, Gross cut a Valentino-style appearance with a broad red ribbon worn diagonally across his chest and his glossy black hair while he conducted from the piano. Dr. Gross resigned from the orchestra and returned to his home in Chicago in 1948.
The St. Louis Connection
Luckily, the Board succeeded in engaging Max Steindel who served as conductor for the next seventeen years until his death in 1964. The Board and the public soon realized that a coup had been accomplished, since Max was the principal cello and personnel manager of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He was also a link with the bygone century being one of five children, all geniuses, whose father had been a court musician in one of the European principalities. Papa Steindel taught his children using stern discipline and toured Europe with Max, his "wunderkind". Max recalled sitting on the lap of the Grand Duchess of Russia on one of their tours.
Max brought to the orchestra an indirect acquaintance with some of the musical giants of the late 1800s. Despite his difficult upbringing, he was a kindly, jovial man who was able to teach by singing phrases with his own poetry or giving colorful verbal descriptions of how the music should sound: "like going down a coal chute" or "like a group of peasants stomping their feet" or, as in his description of part of Mendelssohn's Italian symphony, "like hooded monks with bowed heads shuffling through a convent garden." Because of his position, he was able to establish Monday as the day off for the St. Louis Symphony so he would be free for the Alton rehearsals. He led The Alton Civic Orchestra until his death from cancer in 1964. The orchestra's collective feelings for the man and his reciprocating rapport with them touched the whole community, and left a void with his passing.
The Local Connection
Finding a new conductor was a difficult task for the Board, but after much searching a young man, Clarence
Drichta, was selected for the position. He was a teacher in the Alton schools, and was a violinist of high quality. He had a phenomenal knowledge of the musical repertoire, an ability to conduct and enough youthful enthusiasm to bring the orchestra to a higher standard.
Horns to the Front
In 1968 Drichta accepted a position in a suburb of Cleveland. Before he left he suggested that Kaid Friedel become our conductor. Mr. Friedel readily accepted the position. At the time he was Principal Horn of the St. Louis Symphony. He was in the U. S. Navy Band and had graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music. He had a wide reputation as a French horn teacher and when he arrived for his first rehearsal, about eight of his pupils showed up with him. Mr. Friedel turned out to be an able and well-received conductor. Through his association with Curtis he was able to provide the orchestra with some very capable soloists. The audience loved him and in his less formal moments he was a great punster. He resigned from the orchestra in 1979 to devote himself to the Compton Heights Concert Band in St. Louis.
Concurrent with Mr. Friedel's resignation, Clarence Drichta returned to the area for personal reasons. He was interested in coming back to the Alton Civic Orchestra and the Board happily reinstated him.
Into the Roaring 90's
In 1990, Mr. Drichta resigned for the second time. The search committee was reactivated and after numerous interviews Dr. James Richards was selected as the new conductor. He was also employed in the music department of the University of Missouri, St. Louis and was also the conductor of the Kirkwood, Missouri Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Richards, a fine violinist and conductor, served very capably until the end of the 1992-1993 season when he resigned because of significant increases in his duties at
UMSL.
In July 1993 the Board selected Edward Dolbashian as Conductor and Music Director. Mr.
Dolbashian, a native of New York City, also serves as the Director of Orchestral Activities and Director of Conducting Studies at the University of Missouri in Columbia. His solo instrument is the oboe and he has had much experience in conducting several symphony and chamber orchestras in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He is much respected and is very popular with the Board, the players, and the listening public.
Passing the Torch
In 1986, during Mr. Drichta's second tenure, Dr. Boals resigned as president of the board after forty years of service. He remained President Emeritus until his death in 1998. He was succeeded as president by Jamie Reeves, a local attorney. It was in 1987, under Mr. Reeves' leadership, that the Alton Civic Orchestra was renamed the Alton Symphony Orchestra, decades after Miss Ahle's group had faded away. Mr. Reeves resigned his position in 1993.
Mrs. Deborah Fox, a flute teacher and member of the orchestra, was elected as Board President and served until her resignation from the office in March 1998. Vice-president Allen Biggs, a local businessman and French horn player in the orchestra, assumed the duties of president until a successor could be found. In November 1998 Victor
Freyer, formerly treasurer, assumed the position and served until 2000. Mr. Freyer played clarinet in the orchestra and was the manager of the Alton Municipal Band. From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Mark Landon, a local businessman was called upon to perform the duties of president, followed by Lynden Schuyler who took the reins for the first half of 2004. Unfortunately, Ms. Schuyler was not able to continue in her role due to unforeseen circumstances, and in 2004, Ms. Gayle Hill, an ethnomusicologist/music instructor at Lewis & Clark Community College graciously accepted this role. Ms. Hill served successfully as president until 2006 at which time a new slate of officers was elected, however Ms. Hill and the other former officers remained on the board to continue the tradition of excellence in the musical arts which has long been a hallmark of the Alton Symphony Orchestra.
Join us in our 62nd season in 2007-2008 as the Alton Symphony Orchestra continues as a vibrant part of our community. The Orchestra looks forward with anticipation and excitement to sharing music and entertainment with the community
throughout this season and for many to come.
www.altonsymphony.org
Alton Symphony Orchestra,
Alton Illinois
Call Us at (618) 467-2326
This program is sponsored in part by grants from the Madison County Arts
Council, the Illinois Arts Council - a state agency and funding from the
Arts and Education Council.
Dr. Gross conceived of forming another area orchestra. Through contacts in the college, he organized a small core of people interested in music. They included, amongst others, Frank
Vorhees, Lucy Sparks, Ralph Ritchey, Paul Cousley, Dr. Frank M. Boals, and Mitchel
Petruzza. Because the name "Alton Symphony Orchestra" had been used previously, the new orchestra was named the Alton Civic Orchestra and Dr. Frank Boals was elected its first president.
Luckily, the Board succeeded in engaging Max Steindel who served as conductor for the next seventeen years until his death in 1964. The Board and the public soon realized that a coup had been accomplished, since Max was the principal cello and personnel manager of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He was also a link with the bygone century being one of five children, all geniuses, whose father had been a court musician in one of the European principalities. Papa Steindel taught his children using stern discipline and toured Europe with Max, his "wunderkind". Max recalled sitting on the lap of the Grand Duchess of Russia on one of their tours.
Finding a new conductor was a difficult task for the Board, but after much searching a young man, Clarence
Drichta, was selected for the position. He was a teacher in the Alton schools, and was a violinist of high quality. He had a phenomenal knowledge of the musical repertoire, an ability to conduct and enough youthful enthusiasm to bring the orchestra to a higher standard.
In 1968 Drichta accepted a position in a suburb of Cleveland. Before he left he suggested that Kaid Friedel become our conductor. Mr. Friedel readily accepted the position. At the time he was Principal Horn of the St. Louis Symphony. He was in the U. S. Navy Band and had graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music. He had a wide reputation as a French horn teacher and when he arrived for his first rehearsal, about eight of his pupils showed up with him. Mr. Friedel turned out to be an able and well-received conductor. Through his association with Curtis he was able to provide the orchestra with some very capable soloists. The audience loved him and in his less formal moments he was a great punster. He resigned from the orchestra in 1979 to devote himself to the Compton Heights Concert Band in St. Louis.
In 1990, Mr. Drichta resigned for the second time. The search committee was reactivated and after numerous interviews Dr. James Richards was selected as the new conductor. He was also employed in the music department of the University of Missouri, St. Louis and was also the conductor of the Kirkwood, Missouri Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Richards, a fine violinist and conductor, served very capably until the end of the 1992-1993 season when he resigned because of significant increases in his duties at
UMSL.
In July 1993 the Board selected Edward Dolbashian as Conductor and Music Director. Mr.
Dolbashian, a native of New York City, also serves as the Director of Orchestral Activities and Director of Conducting Studies at the University of Missouri in Columbia. His solo instrument is the oboe and he has had much experience in conducting several symphony and chamber orchestras in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He is much respected and is very popular with the Board, the players, and the listening public.
