Rochester Philharmonic League

written by Catherine Frangenberg, President of the Rochester Philharmonic League

The Rochester Philharmonic League (RPL) was founded in 1929 as a support group for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO).  For over 92 years, these two organizations have worked closely together to provide great music and music education for the community.  The RPL’s activities focus on educating young people on the joys of music and fostering the advancement of musical talent in our youth.  The ways this is accomplished is through support of the RPO’s Primary and Intermediate grade school concerts, community outreach performances, and the RPL’s Young Artist Auditions.  All revenue raised through fundraising events and membership dues go directly to financial support of these programs.

Each year the RPO offers a series of six concerts for school children, grades 1 through 6.  The League volunteers assist with the planning and scheduling of the city and suburban schools.  In addition, we provide escorts for over 12,000 children from their buses to their seats in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.  We provide an opportunity to attend world-class orchestral performances that many of the students might never experience otherwise.

A yearly signature event is the League’s Young Artist Auditions (YAA).  High school students from nine counties compete for awards in five categories, female and male vocal, strings, piano, and instrumental.  Also, candidates can compete for two college scholarships.  There is also a special award which is judged and the winner is given an opportunity to perform with the RPO.  A YAA endowment was established specifically for this event to secure these awards and scholarships for the future.

The League is very proud to be a part of the RPO family and its long history of music education in the community. To join the League and learn more about the different volunteer opportunities at the RPO, you can visit https://rpo.org/rpl/ or send an email to rpl@rpo.org!