Northport Symphony Orchestra
About the Orchestra
The Northport Community Orchestra ...
...was formed as an affiliate of the Northport Chorale, and held its first rehearsal in January of 2007. Under the leadership of Music Director Richard Hyman, an East Northport resident and award-winning music educator, the orchestra debuted in of May 2007 at the Chorale's 25th anniversary concert.
In 2008, the orchestra incorporated as its own entity, and, in January of 2010, officially changed its name to the Northport Symphony Orchestra.
We are a musical family of teachers, physicians, attorneys, engineers, librarians, business owners, retirees, and college students. Whether you've been playing your instrument your whole life, or are rediscovering your love music, one thing is certain: the enjoyment of playing music and of making it accessible to all keeps us together.
Eric Mahl
Music Director and Conductor
I believe in music’s unique ability to spur positive, meaningful, and lasting change in the world above all else. My goal as a conductor and leader is to create experiences that expose music’s power to create a more empathetic, kind and inclusive world, through performances held to the highest possible artistic standard. Further, the role of a conductor for me goes far beyond what happens on the podium, extending into community leadership and collaboration in holistic efforts to welcome and encourage any and all peoples into the concert hall in order to create an environment in which inspiring music and the orchestra itself becomes an essential part of a fulfilling and joyous life.
Currently, I am the Music Director of the Northport Symphony Orchestra, Geneva Light Opera Company, Philharmonia Orchestra at Third Street, and Western Connecticut Youth Orchestra, as well as Associate Conductor with the Greenwich Village Orchestra and faculty/festival ensemble conductor at the Charles Ives Music Festival. I am also the founder and Music Director of OrchestraOne, a NYC based non-profit that has community involvement and participation as its foundation. I am grateful that through these positions I am able to create programming that is unique, meaningful and diverse, as well develop forward thinking and holistic initiatives for both our communities at large and the ensembles themselves.
I am grateful too, to have the opportunity to collaborate and perform consistently with world-class musicians both as soloists and ensembles members from orchestras such as the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Houston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic and more, as well as Grammy winning and nominated musicians throughout the orchestral season.
As a fervent supporter of New Music, I frequently conduct various New Music Ensembles in the Greater NYC area, have led ensembles in the performance of more than twenty world premiers and have commissioned nine pieces for full orchestra through the ensembles I direct. These and other projects have led to many collaborations and commissions with professional and student composers including the world premieres of fully-staged operas, experimental ballet, and countless small and large ensemble pieces of all genres and instrumentations.
As a passionate educator, I have personally taught all ages and instruments at public and private schools throughout the five boroughs of New York City, and frequently work with student musicians from under-served communities. As a firm believer that music can provide a transformational experience for any child regardless of background, I attempt to engage and inspire students from as many cultural and geographic backgrounds as possible through community engagement activities such as free lectures, workshops, and concerts in addition to working with student orchestras.
I received my Bachelors of Music in Education from Ithaca College and continued my studies both at Universite de Montreal and the State University of New York at Fredonia, where I received my master’s degree. I have studied with some of the foremost conducting pedagogues in the United States including Marin Alsop, James Ross, Harold Farberman, Neil Varon, Marc Gibson, Larry Rachleff, Don Schleicher, Jean-Francois Rivest, Paolo Bellomia, and Joseph Gifford. I have participated in workshops and competitions in the United States, Canada, the Czech Republic; at the Eastman School of Music, College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Bard College, and at the Cabrillo festival for contemporary music. When not on the podium, my passion extends to fitness, tennis, and spending time in nature.
Richard Hyman
Music Director Emeritus
Maestro Richard Hyman, a graduate of Queens College and recipient of an M.A. in Music from Columbia University, as well as an M.S. in Education from Queens College, was a New York City Public School music teacher for thirty-five years. In 1991, and again in 1993, Mr. Hyman was one of only ten teachers city-wide placed on the Chancellor’s Teachers Honor Roll for his “outstanding student music programs.” In May of 2007, he received the first-ever Queens Music Teacher of the Year grant.
Mr. Hyman is a co-founder of the NSO, and serves as Music Director of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Huntington, New York.