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Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin leads the Philadelphia Orchestra during its annual residency at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. (Ironglass Productions)<\/p>\n
Ironglass Productions<\/p>\n
SARATOGA SPRINGS \u2014 On a warm August night in 1966, then 16-year-old Carla Skodinski begged her parents to go back to the new performing arts center tucked in the pines of Spa State Park. She had already gone once to see the New York City Ballet dance among the fireflies. Enchanted, she wanted to return, this time for the Philadelphia Orchestra<\/a> under the baton of Eugene\u00a0Ormandy.<\/p>\n \u201cI had never heard an orchestra play live,\u201d Skodinski said. \u201cI absolutely couldn\u2019t believe the sound I was hearing. I had never heard anything like this. \u2026 I was just mesmerized.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Henry Peltier from the Philadelphia Orchestra, left, Richard P. Leach; first executive director of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, center, and Norman E. Wait Jr. review plans for the new arts center March 31, 1964, at SPAC in Saratoga Springs. (Times Union archive)<\/p>\n Saratoga Springs friends Erin Guynup, left, and Lori Ercolini chat and enjoy drinks and snacks on the lawn of Saratoga Performing Arts Center while they wait for The Philadelphia Orchestra to perform on opening night on July 27, 2022, in Saratoga Springs.<\/p>\n Lori Van Buren\/Times Union Marin Aslop, prinicpal guest conductor for The Philadelphia Orchestra, leads the musicians on Aug. 6, 2025, at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The Philadelphia Orchestra will launch its 2026 SPAC residency under her baton. (Erica Miller\/The Philadelphia Orchestra)<\/p>\n Erica Miller\/The Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra onstage at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in 1966.\u00a0(Adrian Siegel collection)<\/p>\n Adrian Siegel Sixty local brass musicians perform on Saratoga Performing Arts Center\u2019s stage with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra during SPAC\u2019s Seventh Annual \u201cPlayIN\u201d on Aug. 1, 2024, in Saratoga Springs.<\/p>\n Lori Van Buren\/Times Union Eugene Ormandy and Yo-Yo Ma at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in 1982. (Allen\u00a0J. Winigrad)<\/p>\n Allen J. Winigrad Eugene Ormandy, former music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducts rehearsal at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. (Louis Hood)<\/p>\n Louis Hood Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducts nearly 100 Capital Region string players during a “PlayIN” at SPAC Friday August 10, 2018 in Saratoga Springs, NY. (John Carl D’Annibale\/Times Union archive)<\/p>\n John Carl D’Annibale Philadelphia Orchestra Conductor Eugene Ormandy at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, New York. August 4, 1986 (Times Union archive)<\/p>\n Times Union Historic Images Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra Conductor, with choir. July 1968 (Times Union archive)<\/p>\n Times Union Historic Images Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Eugene Ormandy at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, New York. Undated. (Times Union archive)<\/p>\n Times Union Historic Images An audience listens to the Philadelphia Orchestra on opening night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren\/Times Union)<\/p>\n Lori Van Buren Stephane Deneve conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra on opening night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 in Troy, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren\/Times Union)<\/p>\n Lori Van Buren Patrons set up chairs as The Philadelphia Orchestra performs during opening night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.<\/p>\n Lori Van Buren\/Times Union Philadelphia Orchestra Concert Master David Kim joined violinists from around the Capital Region for a PlayIn on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga, NY.<\/p>\n Jim Franco\/Times Union Philadelphia Orchestra Concert Master David Kim joined violinists from around the Capital Region for a PlayIn on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga, NY.<\/p>\n Jim Franco\/Times Union Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, music and artistic director for The Philadelphia Orchestra-Yannick, conducts \u201cAn\u00a0Alpine Symphony\u201d on\u00a0Aug. 8, 2024 at\u00a0Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The orchestra returns for its 2026 residency on\u00a0Aug. 5. (Francesco D\u2019Amico)<\/p>\n Francesco D\u2019Amico Concertmaster David Kim in\u00a0front of\u00a0the Woodside Park Dentzel Carousel at\u00a0the Please Touch Museum In\u00a0Philadelphia. He\u00a0will lead an\u00a0evening of\u00a0\u201cthe Four Seasons\u201d with The Philadelphia Orchestra on\u00a0Aug. 19, 2026 at\u00a0Saratoga Performing Arts Center.\u00a0(Neal Santos\/The Philadelphia Orchestra)<\/p>\n Neal Santos\/The Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Naomi Woo leads musicians during the Philadelphia Orchestra \u201cPlayIN\u201d at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. More than 90 local violin, viola, cello, and bass players of all ages join members of the Philadelphia Orchestra to play various classical pieces.<\/p>\n Lori Van Buren\/Times Union Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Naomi Woo leads musicians during the Philadelphia Orchestra \u201cPlayIN\u201d at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. More than 90 local violin, viola, cello, and bass players of all ages join members of the Philadelphia Orchestra to play various classical pieces.<\/p>\n Lori Van Buren\/Times Union Aaron Copland rehearses with the Philadelphia Orchestra in\u00a01976. He\u00a0conducted one of\u00a0the most historic moments in\u00a0th\u00a0history of\u00a0the orchestra\u2019s residency at\u00a0Saratoga Performing Arts Center: Marian Anderson narrating his \u201cLincoln\u2019s Portrait.\u201d (Allen\u00a0J. Winigrad)<\/p>\n Allen J. Winigrad Eugene Ormandy, former maestro of the Philadelphia Orchestra, watches construction of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. SPAC has served as the orchestra’s summer home since 1966.\u00a0(Burns Photography\/Saratoga Performing Arts Center)<\/p>\n Burns Photography\/Saratoga Performing Arts Center Pianist Emanuel Ax\u00a0in 1982 during a rehearsal for the Phildalphia Orchestra’s summer residency at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.\u00a0(Allen J. Winigrad)<\/p>\n Allen J. Winigrad Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra in an “Alpine Symphony” on August 8, 2024 at\u00a0Saratoga Performing Arts Center. (Francesco D\u2019Amico)<\/p>\n Francesco D\u2019Amico The Philadelphia Orchestra has called Saratoga Performing Arts Center its second home since 1966. (Gary Gold)<\/p>\n Gary Gold 2025 Concertmaster David Kim and the Philadelphia Orchestra performs on August 8, 2024 at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.\u00a0(Francesco D\u2019Amico)<\/p>\n Francesco D\u2019Amico<\/p>\n That evening, a lifelong Philadelphia Orchestra and classical music fan emerged, as did a partnership between one of the world\u2019s top orchestras and the new Saratoga Performing Arts Center. The musical residency, like the\u00a0performing arts organization, turns 60 this summer.<\/p>\n A main reason the SPAC residency was extended to the Philadelphia Orchestra was because of then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller\u2019s wife, Happy, said Ryan Fleur, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts Philly. She grew up in Bryn Mawr, a Pennsylvania suburb just west of Philadelphia.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the discussion was happening of what to do, who to have, they knew they wanted Balanchine. And Happy told Nelson, \u2018Well, why not my orchestra?\u2019\u201d Fleur said. And so Happy\u2019s hometown orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, got a new summer home.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The residency\u00a0\u2014 as well as its partners\u00a0\u2014 has evolved over its six decades. The orchestra\u2019s summer season has been led by five music directors, from Ormandy that first summer to Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin<\/a>, who has led since his appointment in 2010. Programming, once under the auspices of the orchestra in its early years, has become a collaboration between the musical group and its summer home, said Elizabeth Sobol, CEO of SPAC. In addition to performing, the orchestra hosts PlayIN with local musicians of all ages and frequently collaborates with Albany Pro Musica for large choral works.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people who are coming to our venue are my neighbors. They are our bankers and our grocers and our shop owners, and they\u2019re our teachers,\u201d Sobol said. \u201cThat\u2019s really extraordinary. And to feel the whole community wait for this moment (when the orchestra arrives), I\u2019ve never seen anything like it.\u201d<\/p>\n The musicians also wait for this moment. Some spend the summer camping upstate, Fleur said, while others stay with friends or family or rent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cSPAC\u00a0\u2014 it\u2019s not a residency, it\u2019s a second home,\u201d Fleur said.<\/p>\n Clockwise from left: Pianist Emanuel Ax, who will return to Saratoga Performing Arts Center this summer, in 1982; David Kim, Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster since 1999; and Aaron Copland rehearsing his “Lincoln’s Portrait” in 1976.<\/p>\n Allen J. Winigrad, Francesco D\u2019Amico<\/p>\n Summers in Saratoga are the beloved \u201ccapstone\u201d to the Philadelphia Orchestra\u2019s long seasons, said David Kim, concertmaster since 1999. Musicians\u2019 concert days often begin with rehearsal, Kim said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen it\u2019s go to lunch, take a nap, take a shower and then show up and really make music on that stage,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Evenings often end with a celebratory gathering of \u201cnice charcuterie and a nice bottle of wine or two\u201d at a player\u2019s home, Kim said. Then the ritual repeats for 12 concerts over three weeks.<\/p>\n For anyone who may have noticed a teary-eyed musician during the final concert, Kim said it is because most retiring players end their tenures on SPAC stages.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very emotional moment,\u201d Kim said. \u201cUsually there\u2019s at least one or two or three every season. Some of them have been coming up to Saratoga for like 40, 50 years, and they get handed a bouquet of flowers and extra applause on the last night. It\u2019s very emotional for them, and for all of us too, to say goodbye, so that gives an extra layer of intensity to the end of the SPAC season.\u201d<\/p>\n The Philadelphia Orchestra\u2019s residency has been filled with memorable moments. Perhaps the most historic was opera legend Marian Anderson\u2019s performance of Aaron Copland\u2019s \u201cLincoln Portrait,\u201d under Copland\u2019s baton, in 1976 as part of the nation\u2019s Bicentennial. This summer\u2019s presentation of the work, this time with Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell narrating<\/a>, is a deliberate nod to Anderson\u2019s performance, Sobol said. There are other callbacks to notable figures in this season, including pianist Emanuel Ax<\/a> and conductor Marin Alsop<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n There have also been concerts that may not make the history books but have had no less of an impact on their viewers. Fleur recalled Verdi\u2019s \u201cRequiem\u201d from last summer. After the morning\u2019s two-hour rehearsal block for a roughly 90-minute piece (and one the orchestra had performed before elsewhere), N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin went rogue during the concert.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause Yannick has such a rapport with the ensemble, he got up there, and he did it entirely differently, and the orchestra, they just followed him, and they breathed with him,\u201d Fleur said. \u201cIt was the most extraordinary hour-and-a-half experience I\u2019ve ever had. The audience, everybody, was connected at once. It was this music-making thing that happened to be Verdi. It was about the surroundings, it was about the park, it was about being outdoors, it was about just being focused and in a moment where we\u2019re very comfortable making music.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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