orchestra new england

• About the Maestro (James Sinclair)
• History of ONE
  • Photos
• Board of Directors
• Staff

About Maestro James Sinclair
Music Director

James Sinclair has served as the Music Director of Orchestra New England since the orchestra’s founding in 1974. His versatility in delivering superb performances in a variety of styles – from the Baroque to pop literature – drives the remarkable success of ONE.

Maestro Sinclair is among the world's pre-eminent scholars and champions of the music of Charles Ives, serving on the Board of Directors and as the Executive Editor for the Charles Ives Society, where he supervises the work of Ives scholars throughout the United States.

Sinclair has also served as Music Director for four PBS television documentaries, including the Peabody Award-winning film about Ives, A Good Dissonance Like a Man.

In 1999, Yale University Press published Sinclair's 800-page A Descriptive Catalogue of the Music of Charles Ives, which the Association of American Publishers cited as the best publication of the year in arts scholarship.

Also in 1999, Naxos, a leading repertoire provider in the recording world, commissioned Sinclair to record the complete orchestral works of Charles Ives, an eight CD project.

During the 1994-95 season, Sinclair led the Yale Symphony Orchestra, which included an overseas performance tour in the Spring of 1995. In addition, he supervises the Berkeley College Orchestra and is an advisor to Yale’s Saybrook Orchestra.

A native of Washington, D.C., Sinclair graduated from Indiana University and served on the faculty of the University of Hawaii before relocating to New Haven in 1972.

He has served as Assistant Professor and Visiting Lecturer in Music at Yale University. Currently Sinclair is an Associate Fellow of Berkeley College at Yale and oversees both the John Kirkpatrick Papers and the Charles Ives Papers at Yale.

In 1999, Sinclair was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of New Haven.

Photo by Baracas

History of ONE

Orchestra New England (ONE) is one of the most versatile and exciting orchestras in America. The Orchestra is committed to quality and innovation, a commitment that has made its artistic achievements possible by generating and nurturing an unusual workplace and a remarkable orchestra.

Since its founding in 1974, Orchestra New England has presented over 700 concerts with a passion for excellence and signature enthusiasm. Most of these performances were presented at ONE’s home base at Yale’s Battell Chapel, with other engagements taking place in concert halls throughout New England and along the Eastern seaboard.

Officially incorporated as the Chamber Orchestra of New England in 1975, the word "Chamber" was later dropped from the title to emphasize the Orchestra's tremendous depth and versatility.

From its 1974 debut performance of an unpublished work by Charles Ives to its almost 150 performances of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, ONE continues to set the standard for outstanding performances of both familiar and neglected works by Classical, Romantic and Modern composers.

ONE has made commercial recordings for such prestigious labels as Columbia Masterworks, CBS Masterworks, Delos, New World Records and Koch International Classics.

Orchestra New England offers an annual subscription concert series at Battell Chapel in New Haven along with its traditional late-November Colonial Concert presented at the United Church on the Green. The Orchestra can also be regularly heard at New Haven’s Shubert Center for the Performing Arts, at the Regina Quick Center at Fairfield University and at the Mercy Center in Madison.

Board of Directors

Lydia Bornick
Lou Weady
Margaret Cartolano
Sheila Peckingham
Meg Barone
Kathy Garre-Ayers
James Sinclair
Mary-Jo Warren
Marilyn Rittner

Staff

Heidi McAnnally-Linz, Director (email: heidi (at) orchestranewengland.org)

Heidi joined the ONE team in September 2008 as part-time Director.  Her background in non-profit management includes the International Humanitarian Foundation, Just Apparel, and Music for the Earth.  Though Heidi studied Political Science at Haverford College, she has always been involved in music -- from backup and solo vocals on her dad's CD projects to clarinet playing and the Oxford Blues a cappella group, Heidi has always had a passion for good music.