Gateway Festival Orchestra
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The Gateway Festival Orchestra is a seasonal orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. It usually performs four concerts each summer on Sunday evenings on the campus of Washington University.
[edit] History
The Gateway Festival Orchestra was founded in 1964 by Professor William Schatzkamer of Washington University along with members of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and community leaders. The orchestra performed its first concerts on the levee of the Mississippi River. It began performing on the Brookings Quadrangle at Washington University in 1970.
[edit] Music Directors
The orchestra's first music director Wiilliam Schatzkamer, who was trained at the Juilliard School of Music. He was a piano student of Alexander Siloti. Over his storied career performing, he performed a total of 175 concerts and recitals and recorded with RCA Victor. He served on the music faculty of Washington University between 1951 and 1987.
The orchestra's current music director is Dr. James Richards, Professor of Orchestral Studies at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He was trained at the Eastman School of Music.
