By Julie Langley
nown as the oldest continuously operating professional orchestra in the Pelican State, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra is celebrating their 75th anniversary. This history includes thousands of performances, education advocacy, and partnering with schools. In addition, the SSO works with institutions like the Shreveport Opera, Shreveport Metropolitan Ballet, and the Wideman Piano Competition.
Formed by only a few interested local citizens with founding music director John Shenaut, the SSO has been delighting audiences since 1948. SSO Music Director Michael Butterman said Shreveport may be distinguished by being a relatively small city, but one that supports a top-quality professional orchestra, whose musicians are drawn from not only the Shreveport-Bossier area, but a wide region encompassing the Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Baton Rouge, Natchitoches, Monroe, Little Rock and Kansas areas.
Butterman, who is also a pianist and former violinist, says he came to conducting indirectly through his work as a choral accompanist while an undergraduate. Before coming to Shreveport, Butterman taught at Louisiana State University. He went on to conduct the Rochester Philharmonic in New York, and the Jacksonville Symphony in Florida.
“The SSO has brought world-class guest artists to our community, including Van Cliburn, Beverly Sills and André Watts,” Butterman said. “More recently, the SSO has partnered with cultural partners like SRAC, the Robinson Film Center, Shreveport Little Theatre, Norton Art Gallery, Shreve Memorial Library and SPAR to broaden its footprint and community impact, and has offered performances featuring classic rock – music of Led Zeppelin, Queen, etc. – as well as current Broadway and television stars.”
“Many of our musicians are college professors in addition to being freelance orchestral players,” Butterman said, noting that in addition to his work with the SSO, he is a music director of the Boulder Philharmonic, the Williamsburg Symphony and the Lancaster Symphony orchestras.
“Not only does the SSO serve as a cultural focal point and catalyst for collaboration with other organizations, but its musicians enrich the local community by teaching privately, as well as in public schools and the Centenary Suzuki program, and regularly perform in local theatrical productions and church services,” Butterman explained. “The symphony is repeatedly cited by local business leaders as a ‘selling point’ for the community when recruiting employees from out-of-state, and contributes to quality of life measures and economic development downtown, where it presents the majority of its performances.”
In addition to the SSO’s MasterWorks series, they offer a free Chamber Concert series and Family Concert, as well as educational and community engagement programs, made possible by donations.
The Discovery Series is an area-wide educational program for fourth and fifth graders throughout the Caddo and Bossier Parishes. The students are provided an opportunity to attend Discovery Concerts at the Riverview Theater where they watch and listen to the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra through a program specifically designed to teach aspects of music.
The Shreveport Symphony Orchestra’s 75th anniversary season will begin in September, and is scheduled to include masterpieces by Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Beethoven and Bach, along with the music of Elvis, a holiday spectacular with Broadway star Laura Osnes, and a salute to John Williams.
For more information, call the ticket hotline at 318.227.8863. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information on donating, call 318.222.7496.