Russian Symphony Orchestra Society (original) (raw)

The Russian Symphony Orchestra Society (also known simply as the Russian Symphony Orchestra) was founded in 1903 in New York City by Modest Altschuler, and functioned for fifteen years. Oscar Levant described the orchestra as having constituted "a school for concertmasters"; among its members were (concertmaster of the Boston Symphony), Maximilian Pilzer (concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic), (concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony), and (concertmaster of the National Orchestral Association). Film music conductors Nikolai Sokoloff, Nathaniel Shilkret and were also Russian Symphony Orchestra alumni, as was trumpeter Harry Glantz. The orchestra also formed the backbone of the New Music Society of America, founded in December 1905.