Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra


The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra is an American orchestra based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only full-time, professional orchestra in the Gulf South. The orchestra performs at the Orpheum Theater.
The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra's music director is Carlos Miguel Prieto. The LPO performs a full 36-week concert season featuring an array of Classics, Casual Classics, Family, Education, and Outreach concerts, as well as Special Events. The members of the LPO are home-based in New Orleans and serve the Gulf South region.
LPO is the longest-standing musician-governed and collaboratively operated professional symphony in the United States.

History

The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in September 1991 by musicians from the former New Orleans Symphony. Its first music director was Klauspeter Seibel. Mr. Seibel retired in 2005 from the LPO. Mr. Seibel's work with LPO was widely praised in eulogies of his death in Hamburg, Germany, on January 8, 2011.
Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 caused the LPO's musicians to evacuate. Their venue, the Orpheum Theater, flooded. Members of the orchestra began performing at alternate locations in 2006. One of these locations was
The Orpheum Theater reopened in August 2015. The first event was held on September 17, 2015 with a performance by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. The LPO will be the anchor tenant for the theater.