The Abi­lene Phil­har­monic Orches­tra is one of Abilene’s old­est per­form­ing arts orga­ni­za­tions.  It serves as the cor­ner­stone for oth­ers, enrich­ing the cul­tural life of a region.

Its his­tory traces back to Sep­tem­ber 1950, when com­mu­nity sup­port­ers orga­nized a musi­cal group called the Abi­lene Sym­phony Orches­tra.  Jay Diet­zer was the first con­duc­tor and orches­tra mem­bers could recall audi­ences of less than 100 peo­ple in the open­ing sea­son.  The con­certs were held in the old Abi­lene High School, which is now Lin­coln Mid­dle School.

The first pro­gram was pre­sented Decem­ber 2, 1950 with works by Beethoven, Schu­bert, Grieg and Wag­ner.  Mr. Diet­zer remained with the orches­tra through three sea­sons.  A Women’s com­mit­tee, a fore­run­ner to the Abi­lene Phil­har­monic Guild, appeared in the sec­ond sea­son to assist with fundrais­ing efforts.  Julius Hegyi, for­mer con­cert­mas­ter of the San Anto­nio Sym­phony, con­ducted the next two sea­sons (1953–54 and 1954–55).

Wal­ter Charles was named Musi­cal Director/Conductor of the orches­tra dur­ing the 1955–56 sea­son.  Five con­certs, a com­mu­nity “Mes­siah” and youth con­certs were part of the sched­ule.  The Stu­dent Con­cert lec­ture pro­gram to bet­ter pre­pare the stu­dents for con­cert lis­ten­ing was started by Mrs. Scott Taliaferro.

At the begin­ning of the 1960–61 sea­son, the Abi­lene Sym­phony Orches­tra and the Abi­lene Civic Music Asso­ci­a­tion merged to form the Abi­lene Phil­har­monic Asso­ci­a­tion.  This same year, Leo Scheer became conductor.

George Yaeger, Asso­ciate Con­duc­tor of the San Anto­nio Sym­phony, became the fifth con­duc­tor of the Abi­lene Phil­har­monic in 1966.  He con­tin­ued to expand orches­tra oper­a­tions by insti­tut­ing the well-received Pops Con­cert Series and by tai­lor­ing the Stu­dent Con­cert pro­gram to younger audi­ences.  In 1970, the orches­tra, under Con­duc­tor Yaeger, moved into the Civic Cen­ter.  In 1988, Mr. Yaeger insured the future of the orches­tra by secur­ing grants to estab­lish the Abi­lene Phil­har­monic Foun­da­tion.  Mr. Yaeger retired after the 1992–1993 sea­son, and was hon­ored with the title “Con­duc­tor Lau­re­ate.”

After an exten­sive two-year search, the Asso­ci­a­tion named Shinik Hahm as the Music Direc­tor of the Orches­tra for the 1993–94 sea­son.  He served for ten years, con­vert­ing the orches­tra from a com­mu­nity orches­tra to a pro­fes­sional organization.

The cur­rent Music Direc­tor, David Itkin, is now in his sixth sea­son with the orches­tra expe­ri­enc­ing unprece­dented growth.  Dur­ing his tenure, more sea­son seats have been sold than at any time in the orchestra’s 60-year his­tory.  The sea­sons have included two sold-out Christ­mas con­certs and an April 2006 con­cert that marked the first time ticket buy­ers could choose between an evening con­cert and a matinee.