TSO questions How and when did the symphony begin What are the biggest events that the TSO does How many rehearsals are involved Who are all involved with the TSO How many members play What is the largest challenge of the TSO What are your favorite aspects of the TSO What are the TSO s strengths and weaknesses How does the TSO promote itself How are you involved in the TSO and what made you join What are goes into preparing for a performance Has the symphony played for any major events If so what What type of audience does the symphony bring How many per show What makes the TSO newsworthy and significant Is there anything else you would like to add Elizabeth McGuire Executive Director emcguire tsoonline org 205 752 5515 Adam Flatt Music Director Jubal Fulks Violinist Concertmaster njfulks bama ua edu 205 348 1479 Jenny Gr goire Violinist jgregoire music ua edu 205 348 7790 John McGuire jcquire tsoonline org Charles Snead Plays Horn for TSO ssnead music ua edu 205 348 7110 How and when did the symphony begin I am not fully sure of all the details but I believe the Tuscaloosa Symphony began around 1981 or 1982 It was first begun by a music education Prof at the University of Alabama What are the biggest events that the TSO does We do 6 to 7 concerts on an annual basis and it would be difficult to say which one is the biggest because they are simply different Our masterworks series are our featured events but the Fourth of July Pops concert and our educational outreach concerts are very important as well How many rehearsals are involved The typical number of rehearsals per concert is an average of three Who are all involved with the TSO How many members play The Tuscaloosa Symphony is made up of professional musicians from throughout the region Many have them have faculty appointments at the University of Alabama school of music Some others are advanced undergraduate and graduate students at the University Musicians from other cities throughout this geographical region participate as well The average number of musicians involved in a typical concert will be around 60 What is the largest challenge of the TSO The single largest challenge of the Tuscaloosa Symphony is maintaining a stable financial base for the operation of the ensemble Fundraising and community support is an ongoing operation for the organization and primarily its Board of Directors The Tuscaloosa Symphony is an extremely valuable component in our community and is vital to the success of business and cultural interests throughout the area Appropriate and consistent financial support is an ongoing challenge What are your favorite aspects of the TSO The Tuscaloosa Symphony provides the opportunity to bring great music to our community For me personally it presents a wonderful outlet for performance with other highly talented musicians but on a broader scale it makes our community a better place What are the TSO s strengths and weaknesses The TSO s strengths are the musicians who perform in the group and the music director who leads the ensemble Adam Flatt The Tuscaloosa Symphony is a very high quality ensemble performing at a much higher level than one would generally associate with the community of our size The Tuscaloosa Symphony has no weaknesses musically or artistically The only thing that could be categorized as a weakness is the identification of consistent ongoing an adequate financial support This is been significantly improving in recent years but financial security for the orchestra is still a challenge How does the TSO promote itself Creative uses made of electronic media social media print media and good old fashioned word of mouth The Tuscaloosa Symphony has become very cutting edge and promoting itself as an organization How are you involved in the TSO and what made you join I am the principal horn player in the Tuscaloosa Symphony I joined the ensemble in 1988 I sought the opportunity to join and have enjoyed being a part of the ensemble ever since because it provides a wonderful opportunity to play great music with great musicians What are goes into preparing for a performance All parts must be prepared well in advance of the first rehearsal This requires an investment of many hours on the part of each individual musician Then as mentioned above there are three rehearsals each of 2 5 hours in length in preparation for each concert Has the symphony played for any major events If so what We play for the annual Fourth of July celebration for the city of Tuscaloosa each year In 1992 we played for the inauguration of the world insurance Hall of Fame here in Tuscaloosa What type of audience does the symphony bring How many per show Our audience is relatively diverse It is typically representative of professionals in the greater community faculty members from the University community and we always hope many of the University students will be present as well The average audience ranges from 8001 000 What makes the TSO newsworthy and significant It is an extremely important artistic and cultural component of our community How and when did the symphony begin As a volunteer community orchestra in 1979 What are the biggest events that the TSO does We play to a large crowd at the Celebration on the River July 4th event at the Amphitheater How many rehearsals are involved Typically 3 4 rehearsals per performance Music is mailed out to players several weeks in advance They are expected to know the music before rehearsals begin Who are all involved with the TSO How many members play Depending on the music selections we can employ anywhere between 33 to 100 people for a given performance What is the largest challenge of the TSO Fundraising What are your favorite aspects of the TSO How well the orchestra performs They are excellent What are the TSO s strengths and weaknesses Our Music Director Adam Flatt is a major strength Also strong ties with the University of Alabama s School of Music help to ensure consistency We also have a very hard working group of volunteers who keep funds coming in and help us create noteworthy events Weaknesses would be that we have a very small staff and not everyone in the community appreciates our product and how lucky we are to have such a fine arts organization such as the TSO How does the TSO promote itself Billboards radio tv newspapers email Facebook twitter magazines and posters How are you involved in the TSO and what made you join I am the Executive Director and my job is to