Our Mission
Engage, inspire and educate through excellence in the live performance of great music.

Our Vision
To improve life in a diverse community through artistic excellence in the performance and preservation of great music.

Our Core Values
Excellence • Community • Preserve Great Music • Artistic • Diverse • Integrity

The Valley Symphony Orchestra & Chorale, founded in 1952, is the premiere symphonic music organization in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Valley Symphony Orchestra will perform six  concerts from September through April during the 2010 – 2011 season. The December and February concerts will feature the Valley Symphony Chorale.  The holiday  concert has become a tradition for many Valley families. In addition, VSO musicians will be featured during intimate Chamber Music concerts in October, November, February and March.

The supports three vital education programs: the South Texas Youth Symphony, Success Thru Strings, and low-cost education concerts for Valley students.

The South Texas Youth Symphony brings 75 of the most talented orchestral middle school and high school students from across the Valley, Brownsville to Rio Grande City, together to learn and perform at the highest level found in the Valley. VSO musicians serve as coaches for the Youth symphony. The youth symphony annually performs winter and spring concerts.

Youth symphony musicians who perform with the youth symphony during their senior year of high school are eligible for college scholarships, provided by the VSO&C.

Success Thru Strings allows students, beginning in the first grade, to study violin with Suzuki method trained VSO violinists. The purpose of this program is to provide students the opportunity to study the violin, regardless of their families ability to afford private lessons. The fall of 2010 ushers in the third year of this very successful program. Additional funding for this program has been provided by the McAllen Arts Council, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and BBVA Compass Bank.

The VSO performs educational concerts for more than 8,000 students each season. These concerts are performed in January at the McAllen Civic Center Auditorium. VSO education concerts are often the first opportunity for Valley elementary students to experience a symphony concert. The 50 minute concerts are created with TEKS aligned curriculum.

Unique educational opportunities are provided for Valley students through master classes and workshops with many of the guests artists who perform with the orchestra. Open dress rehearsals are held the evening before each concert.

Meet our Staff
Where We are Located
History of the Valley Symphony Orchestra
History of the Valley Symphony Chorale
University of Texas-Pan American and the Symphony

Conductors
Dr. Peter Dabrowski, Musical Director and Conductor – Valley Symphony Chorale
Dr. Christopher Munn, Conductor – Valley Symphony Chorale
Lucas Darger , Conductor – South Texas Youth Symphony

Office Staff
Monica Folk, Executive Director
Cate Link, Operations/Finance Manager
Fawn Foudray-Golich, Community Development Director
Barbara Cortina Lopez , Administrative Assistant

Orchestra Committee
Art Brownlow
Cynthia Cripps
David Isadore
Mary Isadore
Martha Kyle
Bill O’Neil
Ben Ponder
Scott Roeder
Linda Sobin-Reed

Librarian
José Noriega

Orchestra Personnel Manager
José Noriega

Chorale Section Leaders
Robyn Cain, First Soprano
Elizabeth Liljestrand, Second Soprano
Doris Davis, Alto
Antonio Martinez, Tenor
Vernon Weckbacher, Bass

Office Location
The South Texas Symphony Association office is located at the Nuehaus Tower in McAllen, 200 S. 10th St., Suite 104.  We are open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

History of the Valley Symphony Orchestra
The Valley Symphony Orchestra is presently an 75-musician orchestra. It performs both standard symphonic repertoire and commissioned new works. The many cultures present in the Valley have influenced the selection of music the Symphony performs. In addition to the traditional symphonic repertoire, the ensemble has recently appeared with the world-renowned Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán. The VSO hosts acclaimed American and international soloists during each concert season.

The Valley Symphony Orchestra originated in 1952 under the auspices of Pan American College as an ensemble of volunteer musicians performing free concerts in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The orchestra performed several concerts annually in Hidalgo County and Reynosa, Mexico. In 1967, it began performing in Harlingen on a limited basis. The orchestra has also performed several times in Mexico including the cities of Monterrey, Saltillo, and Ciudad Victoria.

Seven conductors have shared the podium since the orchestra’s first year: Founder of the ensemble, Charles Magurean, 1952-58; Glenn Williams, 1959-65; Dr. John D. Anderson, 1965-68; Franz Zeidler 1968-69; Dr. Thomas Greer, 1969-73; and Dr. Carl Seale, 1973-2001. Dr. Peter Dabrowski is the current conductor.

History of the Valley Symphony Chorale
The Valley Symphony Chorale, originally the Rio Grande Valley Chorale, was founded in 1954. The ensemble soon established itself as a versatile group and on occasion shared the stage with the Valley Symphony and the Corpus Christi Choral Society. Under the direction of William A. Hunt, the Chorale began performing with the San Antonio Symphony during the Rio Grande Valley International Music Festival in its presentations of choral works and operas. It has also participated in cultural exchanges with Mexico. In 1961 the Chorale was the first adult chorus to perform for the annual convention of the Texas Choral Directors’ Association.

The Choral has had ten directors: Founder, B.R. Hensen; A. M. Autrey; William A. Hunt; Cloys Webb; William Bender; Ray Drakely; Rafael Bundage; Ed Byrom and Carl Seale. Christopher Munn has directed the ensemble since 1985.

Since joining the Valley Symphony in 1984, the Chorale has become a permanent addition to the concert season, adding a new dimension to the programming. The Chorale is also developing a reputation of quality performance outside the Valley. In 1988 the ensemble was invited to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Corpus Christi Symphony and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Manhattan Symphony at Alice Tully Hall in New York City. The latter work was performed in January 1989 and again in 2004, with the Valley Symphony Orchestra before a capacity audience. Its repertory also includes Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Verdi’s Requiem among many other major musical choral works.

University of Texas-Pan American and the Symphony
The University of Texas-Pan American has long recognized the value of the fine arts to both the University and the Valley communities. This recognition led the University to encourage the formation of a community symphony orchestra on the campus as part of the music program in 1952. The orchestra was then and still is comprised of Valley musicians and university students.

Until 1976 the symphony was under the sole support of the university. However, the unique blend of university and community made the formation of the South Texas Symphony Association (STSA) advantageous for both groups and in 1976 the association embarked on the task of developing a financial and personnel base that would enable the orchestra to develop in the direction desired by all involved. The cooperation of the two organizations has made it possible for the orchestra to develop in ways that would otherwise have taken many more years.

The University of Texas-Pan American and the South Texas Symphony Association assist the Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorale through a contractual agreement. The University provides rehearsal space, office space, the Fine Arts Auditorium, and some instruments belonging to the music department at no charge. The orchestra is a university ensemble and members may receive university credit for participating.