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 photo by Barbara Williams
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Sheldon
Bair is the Founder and Music Director of the
Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra (Maryland), a community orchestra of 100
members. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Elizabethtown College
(Pennsylvania) where he studied conducting with Otis Kitchen and
composition with James McVoy and Darrell Douglas, and a Master's degree
from Towson University (Maryland). In addition, his
post-graduate studies include classes at Westminster Choir College in
Princeton, New Jersey. Sheldon Bair has studied conducting
with Witold Rowicki in Vienna, and Marc Mostovoy, William Hudson, and
Leonid Grin.
Bair
teaches orchestra for the Harford County Public Schools (Maryland), is
adjunct faculty for Harford Community College, is on the conducting
staff for the Elizabethtown College Music Camp, and is often invited to
conduct and adjudicate youth orchestras and soloists. In
November 2000, Bair was bestowed the Paderewski Award for Contributions
to Society and Culture at the Polish Embassy in Washington
D.C. In the fall of 2007, Bair was the guest conductor for
the Flower Mound Symphony Orchestra in Dallas, Texas. Also in
the fall of 2007, 93 members Susquehanna Symphony appeared at St.
Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, performing a program of Polish
music with several choirs in front of an appreciative,
standing-room-only audience. In the fall of 2009,
100 members of the Susquehanna Symphony performed on the main stage at
Carnegie Hall for the same Polish impresario, performing a program of
Polish works under three different conductors.
Bair
has written a number of works for student string orchestra, two works
for the Susquehanna Symphony, several arrangements for orchestra, and
two works for church choir. Ensembles in Maryland, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Texas have performed his music.
Bair’s student string orchestra music is published by Howard
Publications. He lives in Bel Air, Maryland, with his wife
Barbara (also a musician) and two of his three children (the eldest is
married and lives in Virginia).
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The Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra is a non-profit community orchestra,
providing education and entertainment for Harford County, Maryland. It
was founded in 1978 by Sheldon Bair as the Harford Community Orchestra.
In 1982, the name was changed to the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra.
The musicians are from Harford County and surrounding areas. They come
from all walks of life and many have degrees in music from various
colleges, universities, and conservatories. The full orchestra has
approximately 100 members. Every year, the SSO performs four concerts
in its subscription series and one or two "pop" al fresco concerts each
June. The Orchestra is made up of about 100 musicians, 50 of which are
strings.
The Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra continues to serve the northeastern
Maryland community. Highlights have included several world premieres
(including two works by Henry Cowell from the 1930's); composers on
hand for concerts; guest performers such as the Edinburgh String
Quartet, Russian violinist Alexander Skwortsow, and members from the
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra to perform a David Finko viola and double
bass concerto; a performance of the Bach St. John Passion with the Penn
State Concert Choir; a performance at the All-Eastern MENC Convention
in Baltimore (for which we were invited); performances of
multi-cultural music by composers such as William Grant Still and David
Amram; and performances of basic, and not-so-basic orchestral
literature. The Orchestra has also performed at the MMEA convention
in1998 and 1999, in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, NY in 2007, and at
Carnegie Hall in 2009.
The Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra specializes in new and unusual
repertoire, often featuring unjustly neglected works. In fact, the SSO
has developed a reputation for performing such music. Our audiences
enjoy the variety of offerings, and the music director explains the
music to be performed from the stage. The music and guest artists are
chosen carefully by the music director. The Orchestra is comprised of
all-volunteer amateur and professional musicians; guest artists are
often invited to bring fresh ideas to the group.
The Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra believes in the importance of music
in education and has partnered with Band Together,
a local non-profit organization that collects, reconditions, and
distributes used instruments to Harford County Public School students
who cannot afford to rent or buy their own instrument. In the past two
years, Band Together has placed seventy-five
instruments in the hands of interested students in grades 4 – 12. This
program supports diversity in the arts as many of the recipient
students attend Chapter 1 schools along the Route 40 corridor in
Harford County. To donate an instrument, bring it to any concert or
contact the Orchestra Manager.
Susquehanna Symphony
Orchestra Personnel List
Interested in
Playing with the SSO? The SSO
offers opportunities for local musicians to perform great orchestral
music for appreciative audiences. Interested
musicians should inquire through the personnel manager. The
SSO may also be taken as a credit class through Harford Community
College.
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