The Women’s Association for the Austin Symphony Orchestra (WAASO) has made the largest donation in the history of the Austin Symphony Orchestra.

Sunday, December 05, 1999

The Women’s Association for the Austin Symphony Orchestra (WAASO) has made the largest donation in the history of the Austin Symphony Orchestra.

A check for $12,000 was presented to Peg Mikkelson, president of the ASO board of directors, by Phyllis Johnson, president of WAASO, at a mid-day meeting Friday at Austin Holiday Inn.

Last year, WAASO gave $8,000 to the orchestra.

Proceeds for the donation came from the annual tea and symphony ball events, according to Johnson.

"On behalf of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, conductor Stephen Ramsey and manager Marge Dunlap, I want to thank you for this generous donation," Mikkelson said.

"I don’t have enough words to tell you how grateful we are," she said. "WAASO is the mainstay of the Austin Symphony Orchestra and the largest contributor to the orchestra of any kind."

According to Mikkelson, the money will toward the general operation of the symphony. "Our costs are rising dramatically," she said.

Now 43 years old, the Austin Symphony Orchestra has been a beneficiary of the generosity of WAASO since its beginnings.

Nel Madura and Marge Dunlap are original members of the orchestra, who still play with ASO today.

Paul O. Heltne, then-the Austin Public Schools music coordinator and orchestra conductor, was the symphony’s first conductor in 1957.

Austin may be the smallest city in the United States to have a symphony orchestra.

The orchestra’s roots began when the musicians accompanied the Austin Oratorio Society in an annual Handel’s Messiah concert.

By 1957, the musicians and staff were assembled for the formation of the orchestra, ending 10 years of planning and dreaming of the day when Austin would have a symphony.

The first ASO concert was held November 25, 1957 at Austin High School in what is the home of the orchestra today, Knowlton Auditorium.

A scrapbook of programs, reviews and other news articles chronicles the growth of the orchestra.

Current conductor and musical conductor, Ramsey, follows a list of talented conductors that includes Philipp Burkhart, David Jordahl, Richard Larson and Heltne.

Concert Dec. 12

Stephen J. Ramsey, conductor and musical director, will take the stage Sunday, Dec. 12, when ASO performs "The Millennium Messiah" at 2 p.m. December 12 in Knowlton Auditorium at Austin High School.

Students in grades 5th through 12th will be admitted at no charge when accompanied by an adult.

For more information about ticket prices, call 433-5647.