Early Days
In 1948, Jan Wolanek was interested in forming a symphony orchestra, so he spoke to music store owner, George McKey. Wolanek had been the concertmaster and assistant conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and had organized orchestras in Batavia and Jamestown, N.Y. He had also conducted the Buffalo Civic Orchestra. Mr. McKey advised Wolanek to speak to Murray Morton who conducted a pop orchestra that performed at summer concerts in Montebello Park. A number of influential citizens met and it was decided that the St. Catharines Civic Orchestra would be formed.
According to A. Winifred Sankey, about forty players showed up for the first rehearsal. This contradicts the number shown on the Civic Orchestra fact sheet. She may have been referring to the fact that Mr. Wolanek brought in several players from Buffalo. Most of the local musicians had never played in an orchestra before, prompting Wolanek to call them "an orchesta of forty soloists". The orchestra worked diligently and their first concert was a success. The next three concerts featured guest soloists: Mischa Mischakoff, violinist; Bertram Rowe, baritone and George Haddad, pianist. A children's concert was also given. At this time, the conductor was paid monthly, out-of-town players were paid $10, but local players were not paid.
In 1956, the symphony decided to spend more money for first-grade performers in order to attract new members. Performers such as Maureen Forrester, Alexander Uninsky and Albert Pratz were hired. It was found that this did not affect ticket sales and the practice was discontinued.
In the 1950/1951 season Glenn Gould appeared with the orchestra. He was not well-known at that time. He played the Beethoven Concerto in C minor, #3, Opus 37.