Locations of major WPA symphony orchestras

(WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

The following were the locations of the largest WPA symphony orchestras:

Massachusetts State Symphony (Boston, MA)

Commonwealth Symphony (Boston, MA)

Springfield Symphony (Springfield, MA)

Hartford Symphony (Hartford, CT)

Bridgeport Symphony (Bridgeport, CT)

Rhode Island WPA Symphony (Providence, RI)

Syracuse Symphony (Syracuse, NY)

Buffalo Symphony (Buffalo, NY)

New York City Federal Symphony (New York, NY)

Brooklyn Symphony (Brooklyn, NY)

Philadelphia Federal Symphony (Philadelphia, PA)

Pittsburgh Federal Symphony (Pittsburgh, PA)

Huntington Symphony (Huntington, WV)

WPA Symphony (Detroit, MI)

Illinois Symphony (Chicago, IL)

Wisconsin Symphony (Milwaukee, WI)

Minnesota WPA Symphony (probably Saint Paul, MN)

Utah State Symphony (Salt Lake City, UT)

Los Angeles Federal Symphony (Los Angeles, CA)

Northern California WPA Symphony (San Francisco, CA)

Portland Philharmonic (Portland, OR)

Oklahoma City Symphony (Oklahoma City, OK)

(Information from the Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, p. 63.)

(There were many other WPA music projects of course, such as this smaller orchestra project in Maryland. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.)

(This announcement appeared in the Baltimore Sun newspaper on May 31, 1942. Image from ProQuest Historical Newspapers; only partial image shown; shown here for non-profit educational purposes only.)

 

(A smaller WPA orchestra in Harlem, New York. Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.)