More About the New York Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra

The New York Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, has established itself as one of the most exciting and prominent string ensembles originating in the U. S. Critically acclaimed here and abroad, the ensemble has toured the U.S. and Europe extensively since 1972 while presenting regular concert series in New York City. In 1974, the orchestra received a grant from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Foundation for a European tour to record American music for the North German Radio (NDR) in Hamburg and RIAS Berlin, Germany.

The New York Pro Arte was the first American chamber orchestra to participate in the Helsinki Summer Music Festival and it was the first American String ensemble to tour the Soviet Union by invitation of the Soviet Government. Both these tours were sponsored by the U.S. State Department. In 1982, the New York Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra accepted an invitation to open the first French Festival of American Music and Musicians in Paris, sponsored jointly by the French Radio and the U.S. Embassy in Paris.

The ensemble has been a frequent guest on Robert Sherman's "Listening Room" and was featured on "IBM Salutes the Arts" hosted by June LeBelle, both on the WQXR radio station of the New York Times. They also performed in the regular 'Concert Series of the Library of Congress', in Washington, D.C.

The lists of soloists that have appeared with the NY Pro Arte reads like a "Who's Who in Music". In alphabetical order they are:

Piano: David Bar-Illan, Jerome Lowenthal, Menahem Pressler;
Violin: Ralph Evans, Robert Mc Duffie, Elmar Oliveira, Sung-Rai Sohn;
Viola: Lucy Corwin, Maryhelen Ewing;
Cello: Michael Rudiakov, Fred Sherry, Jascha Silberstein, Paul Tobias;
Flute: Harold Jones, Paula Robison, Carol Wincenc;
Horn: Robert Routch;
Trumpet: Gerard Schwarz;
Jazz; Marian McPartland;
Harmonica: Larry Adler. Cham-Ber Huang:
Harpsichord: Igor Kipnis;
Narrator: Robert Sherman

American composers whose work have been premiered by the ensemble are Seymour Barab, Norman Dello Joio, Paul Reif and Richard Nanes, to name but a few.

The ensemble gave three concert at the Spoleto USA 1994 Festival in Charleston, S.C. In June of 1996 they were invited to perform with the Royal Swedish Ballet in New York's Lincoln Center. As a participant in the Arts Community Project of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the New York Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra has received two grants from the New York Community Trust Company towards a concert in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in 1994 and 1997.