Imagine US: America at 250 performance in Philadelphia celebrates nearly a century of Interlochen partnership with The Philadelphia Orchestra
Yo-Yo Ma will headline the March 13 program, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru.
Eugene Ormandy, longtime music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra, conducts students at Interlochen in 1964.
On March 16, 2026, Interlochen Arts Academy students will take the stage at Philadelphia’s Marian Anderson Hall alongside esteemed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and members of The Philadelphia Orchestra. Their performance will be a joyous celebration of our nation’s 250th birthday and the power of the youth creative voice. It will also mark a significant milestone in Interlochen’s collaboration with The Philadelphia Orchestra, a storied partnership that dates back nearly a century and has resulted in memorable performances, the very first Interlochen Arts Festival, and the name of a main road on Interlochen’s campus.
The Interlochen-Philadelphia partnership began during the winter of 1930, when Joe Maddy brought more than 200 members of the summer 1929 National High School Orchestra on an East Coast tour that included a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia. The program, which included Liszt’s “Les Préludes,” was extremely successful and helped open doors to further connection between the two institutions.
Interlochen soon found an enthusiastic ally in The Philadelphia Orchestra’s longtime music director Eugene Ormandy, who had worked with Maddy and T.P. Giddings in the early 1930s and shared their passion for arts education. When the Interlochen Arts Academy Symphony Orchestra performed at the Music Educators National Conference in 1964, Ormandy praised Maddy: “It is amazing what you and your associates are able to do with youngsters, and what a homogenous orchestra you have created with the students.” That summer, Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra performed a series of five concerts as part of the inaugural Interlochen Arts Festival, an annual summer event that brings leading classical, contemporary, and popular performers to Interlochen for public performances. It was the first time a professional orchestra had appeared on Interlochen’s campus. The next year, Ormandy joined Interlochen’s Board of Trustees, a position he held until 1968. One of the campus’s main roads, Eugene Ormandy Avenue, was named in his honor.
Ormandy passed away in 1985, but his beloved orchestra’s connection with Interlochen continued to flourish. Over the years, many Interlochen-affiliated musicians have found their way to The Philadelphia Orchestra to serve as members, administrators, and more. 12 Interlochen alumni are currently performing with the ensemble (accounting for more than 10% of the musicians), and one serves as the Orchestra’s librarian.
The March concert celebrates the ongoing history of Interlochen-Philadelphia partnership. Imagine US: Yo-Yo Ma and Interlochen Center for the Arts Celebrate America at 250 will feature a diverse orchestral program including Reena Esmail’s “RE|member,” a reimagined performance of Charles Ives’s Symphony No. 4, and a new cello concerto by Wynton Marsalis, plus multidisciplinary elements created by students from all seven of the Academy’s artistic disciplines. As young artists share the stage with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma, they will experience firsthand the creative excellence and collaboration that have defined this partnership for nearly a century.
