1961
The Canton Youth Symphony is founded
The Canton Youth Symphony was founded to give young students the experience of playing in a full orchestra.
As a graduate of the Peabody Institute Conservatory of Music, the assistant conductor of the Canton Symphony, and a viola player, Margery Henke was named its first conductor.
1961
Michael Charry is named Music Director
Born in New York City, Charry studied piano and oboe at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and received Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in orchestral conducting from the Juilliard School of Music in the class of Jean Morel. His other conducting teachers were Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt in Germany and Pierre Monteux at his school for conductors in Maine. For nine years, Charry was assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell, whose biography he has written (published by the University of Illinois Press in 2011).
May 2, 1962
CSO’s 25th Anniversary photo
1963
The Symphony League of Canton is founded to support education and outreach
A Women’s Committee was founded in 1963 to provide service and fund-raising support for the orchestra. It is known today as the Symphony League of Canton. The League provides docents for the orchestra’s educational programs, ushers for its concerts, and fundraising for
the orchestra.
January 22, 1964
Famed Pianist,Vera Franceschi, performs for the CSO
Originally from San Francisco, the American pianist Vera Franceschi graduated from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. Franceschi went on to perform as a soloist for some of the world’s most prominent orchestras including the New York philharmonic, Paris National Orchestra, and Orquesta Sinfonica of Madrid.
