Charleston Symphony Orchestra

The Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American orchestra which plays most of its concerts in Gaillard Auditorium on Calhoun Street in downtown Charleston. The orchestra was founded in 1936 by Miss Maude Winthrop Gibbon and Mrs. Martha Laurens Patterson. It currently employs 39 full-time musicians as well as a music director and a resident-conductor.
The orchestra's demanding concert schedule both on stage and in the community make it the largest year-round performing arts organization in South Carolina.
David Stahl, who studied under Leonard Bernstein and was known for his interpretation of Mahler's work, served the Charleston Symphony Orchestra as music director and conductor for 27 years, until he died on October 24, 2010 as the result of lymphoma he battled for his last two months. Stahl was also credited with elevating the Orchestra to a world-class program.
CSO, a publicly funded orchestra, suffered financial difficulties because of a decline in fund-raising in 2009. Musicians and staff struck a salary-cut deal with the board and agreed to take an 11.4 percent annual pay reduction for the 2008-09 season and 25.1 percent for 2009-10. 
The orchestra, despite the pay-cut in 2009, continued to suffer financial crisis in 2010, because of a constant decline in fund-raising. In March 2010, CSO has canceled its concert programs for the rest of the year and called off all its activities. 
==List of Music Directors==
*David Stahl, (1984 - 2010)
*Lucien DeGroote - (1964 - 1981)
*Don Mills (1959 - 1963)
*J. Albert Frecht (1941 - 1958)
*Tony Hadgi (1936 - 1940)
==References==
==External links==
*Official Site
Category:Musical groups established in 1936
Category:American orchestras
Category:Symphony orchestras