RSO Blog - History

Welcome to the Richmond Symphony Orchestra blog!  My name is Sarah Matesz, and I’m a third year art major at Earlham College.  I’m very excited to be blogging for the RSO and hope you will enjoy my posts.  Since I didn’t know very much about the RSO’s history I did some research about its origins.  I read RSO: The Story of an Orchestra by Robert M. Johnstone, (one of my first professors here at Earlham) and also paid a visit to the Morrison-Reeves library, which has records of newspaper articles about the RSO beginning in the early 1900s.  Morrison-Reeves is also home to the RSO archives.

The orchestra in Richmond has a long history, starting around 1908.

The RSOs early history was erratic with several starts, then failures.  It was first a small orchestra that played in the Richmond Coliseum and at May Festivals from 1910-12.  But it fizzled out after the conductor returned to his home in Pittsburgh.  In 1920, the orchestra was refounded, and showed much potential, with an opening concert attended by over 3000 people.  Unfortunately, again, the orchestra lost its conductor, and had no one in the community to provide the necessary support.

After World War II, in 1946, a Civic Orchestra was formed in Richmond.  It was small and not very good, but the players were very passionate.  At the same time, Earlham College had a student orchestra that was too small to be very exciting.  Manfred Blum, conductor of the Earlham orchestra had the idea of merging the two orchestras into one that would have more players and greater potential.  So, in 1956, after much discussion, the two entities merged.  Two years later, the Richmond community and Earlham College created the Richmond Symphony Orchestra Association Inc.

This merger with Earlham also laid a foundation for the RSOs work with youth of the community.  The orchestra began hosting competitions for young musicians, and winners played as soloists at the Young Artists concert, a tradition that continues to this day.  Additionally, the orchestra itself had a varied membership.  In 1965 the Palladium Item featured a full page article entitled “What is Richmond Symphony?”  Photos for the article featured Robert Liddil, a Connersville teacher; Mrs. Glen Ramsdell, a housewife; Frank Hussey, an Earlham student; Kathy Ludwig, a Centerville high school student; and Rev. George Millard of Cambridge City.  According to the article of the 75 musicians, 30 were paid professionals, the rest were in it for fun and donated their time.

In the years to come, the RSO experienced some financial hardship.  In 1962-3, Landrum Bolling, President of Earlham College offered the use of Earlham’s Trueblood Fieldhouse, free of charge, for rehearsals and concerts in order to help reduce the symphony’s expenses.  In exchange, he asked that the orchestra allow Earlham students to attend concerts for free.  With this support, budget cuts and extensive fund-raising, the orchestra was able to recover and was soon expanding and increasing the number of concerts offered, including summer concerts in Glen Miller Park (the first was held in the bicentennial of our nation).

By the RSOs 25^th year it had improved and matured to the point that internationally known soloists came to Richmond to play with the orchestra.  And today, after over 50 years and overcoming many obstacles, the orchestra is going strong under the direction of Guy Victor Bordo and is here in Richmond for us to hear.

Some Highlights of Archived Newspaper Articles

Here are a couple headlines and excerpts from the Palladium Item that I found intriguing.

18 November 1974, First-Ever Pop Concert is Big Hit With Audience

”Manfred Blum [the conductor] stepped to the podium… there followed an evening of lively sound devoted during the entire second half to the syncopated rhythm, exciting discordant harmony and soaring improvisations that characterize American Jazz.”

17 May 1975, Bicentennial Oratorio Blends Talent, Patriotism at Shining Best

“It was an impressive blending of local talent, a star-spangled evening…”