James Setapen

Biographical Sketch

James Setapen has served as Music Director and Conductor of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra since 1988. He has conducted numerous orchestras throughout the country and abroad, including those in Baltimore, Indianapolis, Denver, Honolulu, Orlando, and Tulsa, as well as the Bochum and Hagen Philharmonics (Germany) and the Florence (Italy) Sinfonietta.

Maestro Setapen also has an active career in opera, having conducted the Birmingham Civic Opera, the Cleveland Opera Theater, the Des Moines Metro Opera, the Mississippi, and the Amarillo Opera. His extensive repertoire includes Rigoletto, The Marriage of Figaro, La Boheme, and The Turn of the Screw, among many others. Setapen served as the former Associate Conductor of the Denver Symphony and the Omaha Symphony and was awarded first prize in the Oakland Symphony's American Conductor's Competition.

Setapen received his Bachelor of Music with Distinction and a Performer's Certificate in Clarinet from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music in Opera Direction from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has also studied conducting with Boris Goldovsky, Carl Melles at the Salzburg Mozarteum, and in Siena, Italy, with Franco Ferrara. In the summer of 1998 Maestro Setapen was on the faculty of the Conductor's Institute at Bard College in New York.

History of the Amarillo Symphony

The Amarillo Symphony was founded in 1924 with 12 musicians and was first led by pianist Grace Hamilton. Beginning in 1926 Ellis B. Hall served as conductor for a salary of $5 per week. By 1932 the orchestra had expanded to 56 players and the season included six concerts. Tickets sold for $5 per season.

In 1938 the Orchestra performed eight concerts in Amarillo and one concert in Portales, Canyon and Pampa as well as providing music for three Little Theatre plays.

In 1947 Clyde Roller was engaged as Music Director. He had conducted the famous GI Symphony in Europe during WWII and Roller led the orchestra until 1964.

During the 50s the Orchestra moved to professional management, first with Monte Rosenwald and then Eddie Melin and the players first began to be paid. In 1953 the first Symphony Ball was held and the Belles program began. In 1955 the Symphony Guild was formed with Peggy Hammock as the first president.

In 1981 Sybil Harrington made generous donations to the Symphony and West Texas State University to split the costs for a resident string quartet. Since then the Harrington String Quartet has won the prestigious Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and performed to rave reviews in Chicago, New York and Houston. Every year the group presents a three-concert recital series in Amarillo as well as maintaining their teaching responsibilities at WT and touring schedule.

The Amarillo Symphony currently employs 85 professional musicians and a full time management team of four and operates on an annual budget of over $1,300,000. In addition to the seven concert series at the Civic Center Auditorium, the Symphony also presents two Spring pops concerts in the Palo Duro Canyon, a three-concert Randel Chamber Orchestra series at various area churches and wide variety of educational programs including KinderKonzerts and Concerts for Young People. The Amarillo Youth Symphony has grown to a two-level orchestra with over 150 members.