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Discovery Ensemble

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Discovery Ensemble

Discovery Ensemble is a Boston-based chamber orchestra[1] founded by Music Director Courtney Lewis and Artistic Director David St. George. The orchestra, made up of young professionals from the Boston area, gave its inaugural concert in October 2008.[2]

Discovery Ensemble has two missions. First, it is a chamber orchestra that has been praised by both the Boston Globe[3][4] and the Boston Phoenix.[5][6][7][8] Concerts take place at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[9][10]

Discovery Ensemble's second mission is education. The orchestra presents four Discovery Programs per year, each consisting of two in-school workshops[11] and a matinee concert for children from local schools.[12] The schools' concerts take place at Strand Theatre in Dorchester, Massachusetts.[13]

Discovery Ensemble plays live regularly on WGBH Radio and has been featured as Critics’ Choice on NPR.[14][15] In December 2009, Pulitzer prize winning critic Lloyd Schwartz of the Boston Phoenix named Discovery Ensemble Boston's "Best Kept Secret".[16]

History

Discovery Ensemble is currently (November 2009) in its second season, which consists of four concert and education cycles. The orchestra played its first concert in October 2008 in the Strand Theatre, Dorchester with Ginastera’s Variaciones concertantes, Stravinsky’s Danses concertantes, and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.[17][2][18]

The orchestra was founded because directors Courtney Lewis and David St. George saw the possibility, given the abundance of young professional musicians in Boston, of forming and training a large (40 players) chamber orchestra that could perform at the highest international level. At the same time it would be the first professional orchestra to work with school children in situ. Discovery Ensemble has been particularly associated with schools and community centers in Dorchester.[19]

Reviews

References