History:

The South Shore Symphony was first organized in the Five Towns in 1983. In 1991, led by President and Principal Cellist Wayne Lipton, the orchestra moved to Rockville Centre under the baton of Music Director and French hornist Paul Rudolf. In 1993 the distinguished violinist and conductor Ming Feng Hsin was appointed Music Director, beginning a five year period of great expansion. In 1998 Scott Jackson Wiley became the resident Maestro. Under his leadership the orchestra has grown to include professional musicians and gifted high school players in addition to the dedicated amateurs that make up its core, and has become one of the premiere performing ensembles of Long Island. Having recently received its first major grant from the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport the South Shore Symphony has enjoyed the constant support of Senator Dean Skelos, King Kullen Food Stores, various corporate entities and private individuals and the 400 plus dedicated members of the Rockville Centre Guild for the Arts.

The South Shore Symphony collaborates annually with Leggz Ltd. Dance in highly popular holiday productions of Tchaikovsky's beloved Nutcracker Ballet. This past summer this collaboration yielded a highly successful joint concert of ballet and opera at the Lakeside Theater in Eisenhower Park. Another hallmark of the South Shore Symphony is its regular collaboration with the Cathedral of St. Agnes, which in the past has led, among many other events, to performances of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Handel's Messiah and Mahler's Symphony No. 2. This season we expand our contacts even further to include an internship program and a joint concert with the Orchestra for Talented Youth of Oyster Bay, directed by South Shore Symphony cellist Frances Dial. And, of course, one of the orchestra's most cherished traditions is the outdoor summer pops concert every year in Rockville Centre's Liberty Park which climaxes in a spectacular display of fireworks.