The Westchester Philharmonic is the oldest, continuously running professional symphony orchestra and largest performing arts organization in Westchester County. The Philharmonic’s main stage concert series makes its home at the 1,300 seat Concert Hall at the Purchase Performing Arts Center, as well as outdoor concerts, chamber concerts, children’s programs, and special events throughout the area, attracting savvy music-lovers from Westchester, Fairfield, Rockland, Putnam, and Bergen counties, New York City, and beyond.
Founded in 1983 as the New Orchestra of Westchester under the leadership of Music Director Paul Lustig Dunkel (who became Music Director Emeritus in 2008), the orchestra was later re-named the Westchester Philharmonic. Renowned artists who have performed with the Phil include Joshua Bell, Jeremy Denk, Leon Fleisher, Marvin Hamlisch, Jennifer Koh, Jaime Laredo, Raymond Leppard, Norm Lewis, Cho-Liang Lin, Branford Marsalis, Midori, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Garrick Ohlsson, Itzhak Perlman, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Peter Serkin, Gil Shaham, Isaac Stern, André Watts, and Alisa Weilerstein.
Westchester Philharmonic conducts award-winning educational programs that reach thousands of elementary school students each year with classroom programs and a culminating concert with full orchestra at the Concert Hall. The Phil also partners with Westchester County government and local organizations to present free and low-cost concerts and subsidized seating at main stage concerts throughout the season, welcoming hundreds of area residents each year who might not otherwise have an opportunity to attend due to financial or physical limitations, or other barriers.