The Adrian Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1981 with the mission to create musical performances of the highest quality and to present activities that educate, enhance, and improve the quality of life for the citizens of Lenawee County and Southeast Michigan.
Now in its 44th season, the ASO is committed to providing excellent Music for Everyone through diverse seasons of classical, pops, and school-day educational concerts. Our goal is to create remarkable live concert experiences now and for many years to come.
Finest Musicians
The ASO attracts the finest musicians from the world's stage to produce performances of the high quality normally experienced in a larger city. Members of the orchestra are professional musicians active in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. These musicians have trained at prestigious music schools including Juilliard, Eastman, Yale, and the University of Michigan and they perform with other professional orchestras, ballets, and opera companies. Many teach music in the region, in private studios, colleges, universities, and public schools.
The orchestra regularly collaborates with extraordinary soloists, including prize winners of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Leeds International Piano Competition, and Tchaikovsky competitions. ASO guest artists have appeared with internationally-known orchestras in venues ranging from New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Vienna's Musikverein. Recent ASO soloists have appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as other prestigious orchestras around the world.
Artistic Leadership
The ASO has been served by three previous music directors in its 43 year history: Art Shaw (1981-1986), David Katz (1987-1999), and John Thomas Dodson (2001-2015). The 2015-2016 Season featured four finalists in the ASO's search for a new music director.
The ASO is currently served by Music Director Bruce Anthony Kiesling, a Los Angeles-based conductor who has conducted at the country’s most storied halls, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood. Kiesling currently serves as Music Director of the ASO and of the Sequoia Symphony in California. He is also Conductor the Orchestra and Opera at UC Santa Cruz and is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the School of Orchestral Studies at the NY Summer School of the Arts. Previously he served as the YOLA conductor for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Resident Conductor of the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Pasadena Symphony and Pops and Music Director of the Pasadena Youth Symphony and Faculty Member of the Longy School of Music of Bard College.
Community Supported
The ASO serves as the Professional Orchestra-in-Residence at Adrian College and is governed by a community-based volunteer Board of Directors. The ASO would not succeed without support from its community. The ASO is a Michigan non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and is funded through concert ticket sales, program advertising, sponsorships, foundation and government grants and donations from our loyal patrons.
We hope you will choose to enrich your life with live music. We are confident that you will find ASO concerts to be remarkable experiences.
