Gainesville Symphony Orchestra

Mission and History

The Lanier Orchestra League was formed in 1978 to establish and support a symphony orchestra. The Rev. Mr. Simmons became the first L.O.L. Chairman and Ms. Michelli was the first director of the thirty-six member string orchestra. The Lanier Symphonette was composed of adults and young people, with Gainesville Junior College as the sponsor.

Meanwhile, Rudy Volkmann also had a vision of a community orchestra. He began with the Gainesville Brass Consort made up of twelve to fifteen all brass concert players. He then formed the Gainesville Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Honors Band for a five-county area, composed of band directors and the high schools' best musicians.

Later these three groups, the woodwinds, brass and strings consolidated together to form the Lanier Symphony Orchestra.

The revival of the Lanier Orchestra League in 1981 as a support group for the Lanier Symphony was due in part to The Arts Council, Inc., led at that time by Bradford Nicholson, and to Deanna Mays, second L.O.L. president. The new L.O.L. received substantial seed grant moneys from the Arts Council to fund the Lanier Symphony's two concerts that first season.

The L.O.L. Board appointed Mr. Volkmann conductor. The initial concert was to near capacity crowd at the Gym of '36 in February, 1982.

Since the first season, the Lanier Symphony Orchestra has moved to its new home in Pearce Auditorium at Brenau. Larry Sims became Music Director and Conductor in 1986. Current Music Director, Dr. Gregory Pritchard joined the orchestra in May 2005.

In September of 1991, the name of the orchestra was changed to the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra. According to Dr. David Weiss, past board chairman, "This change was made in order to better signify who we are. We have always attracted a wide audience from not only Gainesville, but also from the communities beyond, and we plan to work hard to widen that base of support even further. Our wish to forge a common identity between the orchestra and the town of Gainesville is a result of the pride we feel in the fact that Gainesville is the center of this extraordinary musical activity."

The GSO currently consists of 75 professional members that perform six concerts per year in Pearce Auditorium and two concerts in Hiawassee, GA.