Westchester Philharmonic

The Westchester Philharmonic is the oldest, continuously running professional symphony orchestra and largest group of performing artists in Westchester County. The Philharmonic's main stage concert series makes its home at the 1,300 seat Concert Hall at the Purchase Performing Arts Center, as well as outdoor concerts, chamber concerts, children's programs, and special events throughout the area, attracting savvy music-lovers from Westchester, Fairfield, Rockland, Putnam, and Bergen counties, New York City, and beyond. The Philharmonic is led by Principal Conductors Jaime Laredo and Ted Sperling. Renowned artists who have performed with the Phil include Joshua Bell, Jeremy Denk, Leon Fleisher, Marvin Hamlisch, Jennifer Koh, Jaime Laredo, Raymond Leppard, Norm Lewis, Cho-Liang Lin, Branford Marsalis, Midori, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O'Hara, Garrick Ohlsson, Itzhak Perlman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Peter Serkin, Gil Shaham, Isaac Stern, André Watts, and Alisa Weilerstein. New works commissioned and premiered by the Westchester Philharmonic have included Melinda Wagner's Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999; Thracian Echoes by Derek Bermel in 2003; The Yellow Wind by Tamar Muskal in 2005; and Terra Terribilis by Laura Kaminsky in 2007. A new commission by Christopher Theofanidis is scheduled for debut on October 18, 2015. The orchestra's award-winning education program reaches thousands of elementary school students each year with classroom programs and a culminating concert with full orchestra at the Concert Hall. The Phil also partners with Westchester County government and local organizations to present free and low-cost concerts and subsidized seating at main stage concerts throughout the season, welcoming hundreds of area residents each year who might not otherwise have an opportunity to attend due to financial or physical limitations, or other barriers.