Oklahoma City Philharmonic at Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre

Founded in 1988, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been a cornerstone of the city’s performing arts scene for over 35 years, offering high-quality symphonic experiences to diverse audiences. The organization’s mission is to provide inspiration and joy for the community. And its vision is to enrich the lives of those we touch, to enhance the cultural life of the community, and to educate future generations about the value of music. To entertain our audiences and to elevate the quality of every performance. It also aims to serve as a leader for positive community growth through the performance of excellent symphonic music.

The Philharmonic performs various programs, including eight Classics performances, often featuring internationally acclaimed soloists, six Pops shows, and three Discovery Family concerts each season, as well as collaborations with the Oklahoma City Ballet, and more. 

Oklahoma City Philharmonic Tickets

A Season of Music

The Oklahoma City Philharmonic’s season includes three main series: Classics, Pops, and Discovery Family, featuring world-class guest artists, cinematic symphonies, and offering a mix of orchestral experiences for audiences of all ages.

The Classics series highlights well-known composers like Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven. While the Pops series highlights both old and new popular music legends like Dolly Parton’s Threads: My Songs in Symphony or Classical Mystery Tour paying tribute to The Beatles. Also some mixed performances like Symphonicon: Music From Comics, Sci-Fi, and Games, featuring scores from modern media, and Disney in Concert: Once Upon a Time, featuring Disney songs performed live. And then there’s always at least one film with an orchestra event, like Jurassic Park in Concert and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in Concert.

The Discovery Family series often includes more unusual combinations suitable for younger audiences and features three concerts per season, such as A Very Merry Pops: A Fun-Filled Family Concert and Musical Moods: Feelings You Can Hear! exploring emotions through music. The Philharmonic also hosts the annual holiday tradition, A Very Merry Pops, mixing up festive classics and symphonic pop, and the annual Red, White, & Boom! on Independence Day, featuring orchestral music and a timed fireworks display. 

The History of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic

The Oklahoma City Philharmonic can trace its history back as far as 1924, when it held its first symphony concert with a 54-piece volunteer ensemble at the Shrine Temple. This volunteer organization operated as the Oklahoma City Symphony from 1924 to 1931. Then in 1937, under the Federal Music Project, it changed a year later to the Oklahoma Federal Symphony and finally into the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra, which was formally established in 1988. Joel Levine served as the founding music director from 1988, leading the orchestra for three decades, until being succeeded by Alexander Mickelthwate in 2018.

Notable guest artists over the years include Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Tony Bennett, Renee Fleming, and more recently Kristin Chenoweth, Kelli O’Hara, Pink Martini, and Ben Folds. The orchestra performed on PBS with Michael Martin Murphey in “Sagebrush Symphony” for Austin City Limits, and with Kathie Lee Gifford on her CBS Christmas special “Just in Time for Christmas.” In September 2001, the Philharmonic opened its season in the newly renovated Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre as part of a $52.2 million project.

Oklahoma City Philharmonic and Oklahoma City Ballet Collaboration

Sharing a long-standing, symbiotic partnership that enriches Oklahoma City’s performing arts scene, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the Oklahoma City Ballet frequently collaborate on productions where the Philharmonic provides live orchestral accompaniment for the Ballet’s performances. This partnership dates all the way back to before the Philharmonic’s founding in 1988, in fact going all the way to the Ballet’s professionalization in the 1970s while still under the Federal Music Project.

Together they both perform the annual production of The Nutcracker, which has been running continuously since 1979. In 2024, The Nutcracker received a refresh under OKCB Artistic Director Ryan Jolicoeur-Nye, featuring a trio of hero siblings, marauding pirate mice, and polar bears, accompanied by the Philharmonic and Canterbury Voices. It also includes new sets by Michael Raiford, lighting by Trad Burns, and costumes by Holly Hynes and is perfectly synced to the Philharmonic’s live performance conducted by David Commanday.

Other shows that the pair of companies have collaborated on over the years include an adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Edward Clug’s Radio & Juliet, and more. They also regularly hold free events like Ballet Under the Stars, and Dance Discovery for Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County.

OKC Philharmonic concert showcases collage of American music

By Lauren Monteiro for The Oklahoman. May 16, 2021, at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City.

A recent Oklahoma City Philharmonic concert, led by Alexander Mickelthwate, presented a collage of American music, balancing well-known audience favorites with less familiar, but engaging works. The concert opened with a touching rendition of Samuel Barber’s heart-wrenching “Adagio for Strings,” dedicated to those who we’ve lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next, principal flutist Valerie Watts beautifully performed the recently unearthed “Concerto for Flute and Strings, Op. 137” by Oklahoma native and self-identified Cherokee composer, Jack Frederick Kilpatrick. Thanks to a recent discovery of his musical compositions in the music library at the University of Oklahoma, we now recognize him as one of the first Native American composers to write in a classical style. His flute concerto, written in 1953, incorporates some idioms of the American Indian plains flute tradition, giving the piece a sense of cultural and regional character, while Watts’ effortless musicality and warm, nuanced sound showcased the work’s nostalgic charm and gentle lyricism.

Taking a more contemporary turn, principal harpist Gaye LeBlanc Germain performed the “Concerto No. 1 for Harp and Chamber Orchestra” by Hannah Lash, written in 2015. The attention-grabbing, single-movement work unfolds like a modern soundscape, described aptly by the maestro as aesthetically similar to a Jackson Pollock painting. Leblanc Germain’s range of color and virtuosic energy brought sharp staccatos, disjunct shapes, and striking contrasts into relief.

The concert finished with Aaron Copland’s beloved Americana classic “Appalachian Spring,” highlighting the woodwind section in top form.

The Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre, Home of the OKCPhil

The main performance venue for the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, along with other groups like the Oklahoma City Ballet. It is part of the Civic Center Music Hall, which was originally constructed in 1937 as the Municipal Auditorium, and the hall was renamed in 1966 to honor Thelma Gaylord. In 2001 the venue underwent a $52.2 million reconstruction as part of the Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) initiative in Oklahoma City.

Featuring a convertible stage design, the hall can host Broadway-style theater performances as well as a concert hall stage with state-of-the-art acoustics. And the flexibility makes it the perfect venue for film-with-orchestra events, such as Jurassic Park in Concert. Seating areas include some very opulent orchestra boxes, providing exceptional views for Philharmonic concerts.