EVDOL 41 - The NY Philharmonic Story and the U.S. at 250: How Music and History Collide

Gabryel Smith
Explore the history of music in the United States through the story of America’s oldest orchestra, the New York Philharmonic. Founded in 1842, the Philharmonic introduced the U.S. to five of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, performing its first concerts on Lower Broadway 50 years before New York received a dedicated concert hall and 40 years before the next major American orchestras were established. From the Civil War to 9/11, immigration waves from Europe to Asia, international affairs and state-sponsored touring, radio, TV, and streaming, politics and music intertwine throughout this 180+ year story. The course will be a chronological exploration into the consequential moments when history was made in and around the concert hall, and how the American experience was processed and defined through music.

Biography: Gabryel Smith is Director of Archives and Exhibitions for the New York Philharmonic, where he oversees the collections and historical public programs of America’s oldest orchestra. Since 2009 he has curated over 50 digital and physical exhibits for the Orchestra at David Geffen Hall, including touring exhibits to the Vienna Haus der Musik, the Austrian Cultural forums in New York and Washington, D.C., and the New York Historical Society. He has lectured about the New York Philharmonic’s history for audiences at Oxford, Princeton, Juilliard, New York University, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, and around Lincoln Center as well as at conferences such as the Society of American Archivists. He has written articles for Sony Masterworks, WQXR, Playbill magazine, The Swiss Journal of Musicology, Prelude, Fugue, & Riffs, and regularly contributes to the Philharmonic’s weekly programs. Smith received his masters and bachelors degrees from New York University where he studied history and music.

One Section Available | 8 Classes Total | Extension Holiday Schedule

Wednesdays 6–8pm ET

January 28–April 1 (No class on March 18)

In Person Only

$560

Register by Phone: (212) 799-5000 ext. 273

Our phone line is open Monday–Friday (excluding holidays), 9:00 am–5:00 pm ET.