History

The St. Petersburg Community Symphony was founded in 1975 by Marco del Grande, a Realtor, and his wife, Kathy, a violinist. Michael Ficocelli was the conductor. In 1984 they changed the name to the Tampa Bay Community Symphony because the orchestra was performing in locations in addition to St. Petersburg. Bruce LeBaron was the conductor. After the 1985-1986 season, the del Grande’s and the other board members decided they weren’t getting enough support from the community and they dissolved the non-profit corporation. They divided the assets among the players.

Many of the musicians weren’t ready to give up. That summer, over thirty years ago, in time for the November 1986 concerts, violinist Conrad Denny led a reorganization under a new name, the Tampa Bay Symphony, Inc., with 50 musicians from the Tampa Bay Community Symphony, 30 new ones, and a new board made up of musicians plus an attorney. They asked Dr. Jack Heller, chairman of the music department at the University of South Florida, to be music director and conductor, a post he held for 25 great years. Halina Bobrow, formerly in the Cleveland Orchestra, was concertmistress for 24 years. Tony Skey was principal second violin.

Musicians listed in the first concert series of the Tampa Bay Symphony in 1986 who are still performing with the orchestra are Laurel Bennett, Gilbert Marcy, and Tod Markin. Other musicians who joined the group before 2000: Mozelle Bell, Marta Bukacek, Richard Eliason, David Helfrich, Jean Lagor, Glenn Lenhard, Darlene Millis-Davis, Phyllis Powell Skau, John Tombs, Carolyn Waidley, Mary Wallace, and Gary S. Wright.

Initially, the Tampa Bay Symphony had always been a Pinellas County orchestra, but in 1988 they started performing in Tampa also, at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (now the Straz Center). By 1993, and for many years, the concerts were in Ruth Eckerd Hall, Mahaffey Theater, and The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

In the early 1990s the Tampa Bay Symphony gave 4th of July pops concerts in Coachman Park in Clearwater. From 1996 until the early 2000s over the Memorial Day weekend, they gave “Sun, Sand, and Symphony” pops concerts from a stage on the Treasure Island beach, sponsored by the City of Treasure Island. There were concession stands, fireworks after the concert, and listeners were seated on blankets up the beach as far as the eye could see.

For over 30 years, the Tampa Bay Symphony has sponsored a Young Artist Competition, which has been an integral component of its mission to “encourage and educate youth throughout Florida.” This is notable because they were one of the first orchestras in the southeast, professional or volunteer, to implement such a competition. Contestants from around the state submit a recorded pre-audition, and a committee selects finalists to perform a live audition for judges and the public. The winner performs one movement of a concerto with the orchestra at a future concert series, and receives a $3,000 scholarship.

In 2016, a national competition for composers was implemented. Scores and recordings were submitted and three finalists were chosen. Then the works of the selected finalists were briefly rehearsed and played through by the orchestra, who then cast their votes to select the winning composition, which was performed at the Spring concert series. The next year the competition became international in scope and there were 90 entries from 16 different countries! A panel then narrowed the entries to a group of 18 from which four finalists were chosen. The winning piece being performed at the Spring series. The Composition Competition has become one of the Tampa Bay Symphony’s core programs.