About NPO

OUR Mission:

The Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO), an all-volunteer community orchestra featuring amateur and professional players from throughout Middle Tennessee, is proud to play its part in enriching the already vibrant Nashville arts community. Our mission is to offer area orchestral musicians opportunities to perform while providing high-quality symphonic music free of charge to a wide variety of audiences.

Our History

The NPO was founded in January 2004 by Kelly Corcoran, who conducted the first season. Under Mark Putnam from 2004-2007, the orchestra grew to become Nashville’s premiere community ensemble, performing concerts of exciting, demanding repertoire for all audiences. During the Fall of 2007, violinist and charter member of the NPO, David Hahn served as Music Director, raising community awareness and support for the orchestra. In the spring of 2008, Chris Norton took up the baton to lead the NPO, and he continues advancing the mission of community outreach and musical excellence.

This ensemble offers players of differing levels and backgrounds the opportunity to make music together. The Nashville Philharmonic performs a diverse mix of repertoire – different genres and styles anchored in the classical tradition. Players in the Nashville Philharmonic collaborate with the Music Director in making repertoire decisions. The orchestra features area soloists and new music by local composers and also sponsors annual concerto and composition competitions.

New players are always welcome to inquire about membership in the orchestra!

Our Staff

Alan Fey

Operations Director

Operations Director Alan Fey joined the NPO in February 2019. Alan is an arts administrator, percussionist, composer, arranger, and conductor who specializes in performance logistics and performing solo and chamber music. In addition to his role with the NPO, Alan serves as Executive Director of Make Music Nashville and has previously worked as an administrator with GRAMMY-Nominated ALIAS Chamber Ensemble and Portara Ensemble. He is also actively involved in advocating for equity in arts and cultural funding, especially from local government funding sources.

Based in Nashville, his performing focus is on the creation of new music, having been involved in the commissioning and world premieres of over two dozen works. Alan has performed in spaces ranging from the Zeitgeist Art Gallery to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center to Carnegie Hall. Alan studied primarily with NPO Music Director Chris Norton while earning his Bachelor & Master of Music degrees in percussion performance. He spent a year in Dresden studying with Bernhard Schmidt, timpanist with the Dresdner Staatskapelle at the Hochschule für Musik, which included multiple performances at the Dresden Semperoper. A regular performer with ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, Alan has also performed with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Opera Orchestra, INTERSECTION, Paramount Chamber Players, as a concerto soloist with the NPO (he won our first Concerto Competition!) and Belmont Symphony Orchestras, in various chamber settings, and as a soloist and clinician throughout the southeast.

Alan directed the Nashville premiere of John Luther Adams’ Inuksuit as a part of Make Music Nashville, an organization he co-founded in 2014. Alan has arranged over a dozen works for solo voice, choir, percussion, organ, piano, double bass, handbells, and combinations of two or more of those. He recently completed a full-length Latin requiem mass for a cappella chorus.

Board of Directors

2023-2024

*NPO Musician

+Ex officio member

Kelly Aratoon

Joseph Awad*, Secretary

Daniel Bondaczuk

Tibby Christenberry*

Laurel Fisher

Eric Hawkins, Vice President

Daniel Judy

Megan O’Roark, President*

Mickey Rybiski*

Adam Shifrin

Rebecca Teel*

Tanaka Vercher

Stephanie Williams, Treasurer

Yurina Yoshikawa*

Eitan Snyder, YLC Intern

Kelly Corcoran, Founding Music Director+

Chris Norton, Music Director+

Alan Fey, Director of Operations+

Financials & Reports

IRS Form 990

2022

2021

2020

Annual Reports

2018-2019