Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
The Newark Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is not just a stage for music — it is a community built on decades of shared passion, purpose and performance. For more than 50 years, the NSO has brought together students and seniors, technicians and teachers, businessmen and bureaucrats, all united by the shared joy of making music.
“It’s very friendly and forgiving, and the vibe is always very upbeat,” Mikki Senn, a long-time NSO French horn player and board member, said. “We’ve got mechanics, we’ve got lawyers, we’ve got business folks. Just people getting together, making music. We’re flawed, but we’re good, and it’s just fun.”
The NSO began in 1966 in the living room of Harley Hastings, a Newark public school teacher driven by passion. He gathered a small group of musicians as a chamber orchestra, and as it grew, they found a home at Newark High School.
What started as a few players in a living room has developed into a lasting musical tradition, which is still thriving decades later with the support of the Delaware Division of the Arts.
“We strive to be Delaware’s finest community orchestra of volunteers, making music accessible to the community,” Senn said. “We try to just make it fun and rewarding. And it is, it’s very moving.”
The NSO season runs from October to May and includes several types of shows.
“Four of them are full orchestra, and two of them are chamber orchestras,” Senn said. “And then we have the one family concert, free to the public. And the whole point is, we just want everybody either enjoying or making music.”
In the lead-up to the family concert, attendees are encouraged to share their ideas for music they would like to hear.
Symphony concerts are held at The Independence School on Paper Mill Road in Newark and chamber concerts are held at the Newark United Methodist Church on Main Street in Newark.
“Our conductor is the one who keeps us together,” Senn said. “He plays us like we’re his instrument, and if things start to fall apart, he glues us back together.”
With a foundation in conducting, composition, opera and chamber music, Simone Tartaglione is the Maestro of the NSO and a dynamic musician driven by a broad knowledge of the art form.
Tartaglione began his musical education studying composition and conducting in Rome at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and received a degree in piano performance in Sicily at the Vincenzo Bellini Institute. In 2003, he earned a magna cum laude Laurea (doctoral degree) in philology.
Tartaglione moved to the United States after winning an audition at the University of Denver, where he also earned an Artist Diploma. Later, he pursued studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, earning his Graduate Performing Diploma.
While at Peabody, he came across an opening with the NSO and was offered the position.
What Tartaglione initially expected to be a temporary stay in America turned into a permanent journey after discovering the NSO, which he said inspired him to become a U.S. citizen.
“There is something magical with that group, something that goes way beyond the sound we make,” Tartaglione said. “What I found with Newark is that the love of music and the passion for music are really overwhelming.”
Will Esterling, a former student of Tartaglione, past guest conductor for the NSO and current music director of COSMIC Symphony, emphasized that the passion for community orchestras extends beyond Newark and is deeply embedded in the culture of such ensembles.
“COSMIC Symphony is a humble little community orchestra in Southern Maryland,” Esterling said. “It’s where I get to do what I would say is my most impactful work.”
Esterling further emphasized that whether it be COSMIC or the NSO, community orchestras often provide a more meaningful and personal experience, for both musicians and audiences, than even the most prestigious ensembles could offer.
“With as broad a brush, I’m trying to paint the fact that there are many different types of people, most of which do not have musical careers, most of which did not receive formal training on their instrument and do not have a college degree,” Esterling said. “But we all get together one night a week for a rehearsal and do really exciting concerts each season, which I think is very special.”
The NSO will perform its final concert of the season on Sunday, May 18, at 3 p.m. at The Independence School.
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
Comments are closed.