Diane Wittry has announced plans to conclude her tenure as Allentown Symphony Orchestra Music Director and Conductor in 2028, which will conclude a 33-year tenure.

The announcement was made in a Jan. 22 press release from the Allentown Symphony Association.

Wittry will conduct her final concert in fall 2027 but will continue to serve as Music Director through May 2028, working with the Board of Directors and staff to ensure a successful artistic leadership transition.

The ASA Board of Directors has begun forming a committee to lead a national search for the orchestra’s next music director and conductor.

Wittry’s tenure will be the longest in the Orchestra’s history, surpassing that of Donald Voorhees, who served as music director and conductor for 32 years from its founding in 1951 to 1983.

“After many years of heartfelt music-making, I have decided to retire from my position as Music Director and Conductor of the Allentown Symphony in the spring of 2028,” Wittry said.

“Together, we have built an orchestra of exceptional professional quality, expanded our concert offerings, championed new music and deepened our partnerships throughout the Lehigh Valley.

“I am profoundly proud of what we have accomplished and grateful for the unwavering support of the musicians, board, staff and community. I remain fully committed to working closely with the Board during this transition, and I look forward to the inspiring music we will continue to make together in the seasons ahead,” Wittry said.

“Diane Wittry’s impact on the Allentown Symphony Orchestra is both profound and lasting,” said Jack Bury, President of the Allentown Symphony Association Board of Directors.

“For more than three decades, she has led with extraordinary artistic vision, integrity and commitment, raising the orchestra to the highest professional standards while expanding its reach through education, new music and deep community engagement.

“With the formation of a search committee now underway, we are grateful for Diane’s partnership in ensuring a thoughtful transition and are confident the orchestra is well positioned for continued artistic excellence and growth,” Bury said.

Al Jacobsen, Executive Director of the Allentown Symphony Association, said, “Working alongside Diane Wittry has been one of the great privileges of my professional life.

“Her artistic leadership has elevated the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in every dimension, from performance quality and innovative programming to education, community partnerships and national recognition.

“Diane has built not only an exceptional orchestra, but a culture of excellence, collaboration, and service. We are deeply grateful for her leadership and for her continued partnership as we thoughtfully prepare for the orchestra’s next chapter,” Jacobson said.

Under Diane Wittry’s leadership, the Allentown Symphony Orchestra has become one of the Lehigh Valley’s leading cultural institutions, recognized for artistic excellence, educational impact and community connection.

Her extended transition timeline allows the organization to honor her legacy while positioning the orchestra for continued success in its next chapter, the press release stated.

Artistic legacy

Wittry is internationally-respected as a conductor and educator. She has conducted performances in more than 11 countries, including Russia, China, Japan, Bosnia, Slovakia, Italy and Canada.

Wittry authored two award-winning books published by Oxford University Press that have become foundational texts in the conducting profession: “Beyond the Baton: What Every Conductor Needs to Know” and “Baton Basics: Communicating Music through Gesture.”

Since the start of her ASO tenure in 1995, she has championed adventurous programming that paired underperformed masterworks with new and contemporary compositions.

From the outset, she raised artistic standards by challenging the orchestra musically and increasing rehearsal and preparation expectations, attracting highly-accomplished musicians to audition from the Mid-Atlantic Region, including New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware.

Wittry expanded the orchestra’s creative reach by integrating lighting, visual design, video, actors, dancers and vocalists into performances, broadening audience engagement while reimagining the orchestral concert experience.

Schadt contest

In the 1996-97 season, following a major bequest from brothers Leigh and Edwin Schadt, Wittry helped establish the National Schadt String Competition, widely recognized as one of the premier string competitions in the United States.

Under her leadership, the orchestra experienced sustained expansion, including expanding the Classical concerts to double performances, the addition of Pops Concerts, Family Concerts and a landmark partnership with the Repertory Dance Theatre to present “The Nutcracker” annually each December. Many of these performances were led by Symphony Associate-Pops Conductor Emeritus Ronald Demkee, who retired from the Orchestra in 2024.

Additional milestones during Wittry’s tenure include the formal re-establishment of the Allentown Symphony Chorus in 2014 and the launch of the “Holiday Pops” concert in 2021, which has virtually sold out every year since its inception.

New music

A passionate advocate for new music, Wittry led the Orchestra in commissioning and performing more than 36 world premieres, including four of her own compositions.

In 2020, she helped launch the “Composer-in-Residence” program and the “Composer Collaborative,” further reinforcing the orchestra’s commitment to living composers and contemporary voices.

Education and community engagement have remained central to Wittry’s vision. She introduced the “Meet the Artist” luncheon series, launched the “Conducting Fellows” program in 2010, and spearheaded “El Sistema Lehigh Valley” in 2011, an intensive music education initiative that serves approximately 150 students from more than 20 schools throughout the region.

In 2024, the ASA formed its Latin Leadership Committee to deepen engagement with Allentown’s growing Latin community and hired its first Musician-in-Residence, who is required to be a bilingual in Spanish and English, in 2025.

Among the most ambitious and far-reaching projects of her tenure was a landmark “Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony Initiative” that extended orchestral performance well beyond the concert hall. Beethoven’s Ninth was presented in two performances at Miller Symphony Hall, one recorded for a regional broadcast in partnership with PBS39, and a second recorded to create “Become a Musician: Beethoven’s Ninth Finale,” an immersive interactive exhibit launched in January at the Da Vinci Science Center, Allentown.

These performances transformed a single artistic vision into lasting public resources, introducing thousands of people to orchestral music through broadcast, education and hands-on participation in a manner believed to be the first permanent orchestral exhibit of its kind in the United States.

Guest conductor

Wittry, a California native, was named as one of the “Top 30 Professional Musicians” by Musical America Worldwide for her work leading orchestras.

American orchestras that Wittry has guest conducted include The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Milwaukee Symphony, The San Diego Symphony and The Buffalo Philharmonic.

She was one of the first woman to guest conduct at the Ojai Music Festival, Calif.

International Orchestras that Wittry has guest-conducted include The Zabre Philharmonic, Poland; The Niagara Symphony, Canada; The Sarajevo Philharmonic, Bosnia; The National Orchestra of Ukraine, Ukraine; The Sochi Symphony, Russia; The Maikop Symphony, Russia; State Orchestra of Kosice, Slovakia; The Sinfonia Dell’Arte di Firenze, Italy, and The Osaka Symphony Orchestra, Japan.

Under Wittry’s leadership, the Allentown Symphony Orchestra won first place in the national “American Prize” for artistic quality in 2014 and 2017, received National Endowment for the Arts grants, commissioned new pieces of music, and featured exceptional soloists, including Midori, Emanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson, Yefim Bronfman, Angela Meade and Branford Marsalis.

In addition to her work with the ASO, Diane Wittry has been Music Director and Conductor of the Garden State Philharmonic, N.J, and has served as Associate Conductor of the Ojai Music Festival, Calif.; Artistic Director of the International Music Program with the Sarajevo Philharmonic, Bosnia, and Music Director and Conductor of the Symphony of Southeast Texas, the Norwalk Symphony, Conn., and the Ridgewood Symphony, N.J.

Wittry has given presentations at the Juilliard School of Music, the Curtis Institute, the Manhattan School of Music, and for the League of American Orchestras and the Conductors Guild National Conferences. She teaches conducting workshops in the Czech Republic and throughout the United States.

Wittry has received the national Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras, the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music Outstanding Alumnus Award, the Gold Crown Award, Pasadena, Calif.; the Women of Excellence Award, Beaumont, Tex., and the Arts Ovation Award and the Woman of Distinction Award, Allentown.

More information on her work is on her website: DianeWittry.com

Allentown Symphony

Each year, the ASO performs more than 20 classical, pops, educational and family concerts.

The ASO has received music-commissioning grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, and the League of American Orchestras in support of its El Sistema-inspired program for at-risk youth.

The Symphony Association biennially hosts the National Schadt String Competition, which attracts top young performers from all over the world.

Now in its 75th season, the Allentown Symphony will continue its pursuit of excellence, keeping alive the legacy of master works while bringing the works of modern masters to the concert stage.

Symphony Hall

Once the home of vaudeville, burlesque and Broadway-bound theatricals, Miller Symphony Hall has showcased the comedy of Bob Hope, George Burns and Gracie Allen, the voices of Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett and Placido Domingo, the stirring marches of the Allentown Band, and concerts by the Allentown Symphony Orchestra.

The hall began its life in the 1800s as a large, three-story central marketplace. The building was converted to a theater in 1899 by architect J.B. McElfatrick and renamed The Lyric. It is one of only 12 of 200 McElfatrick “beaux arts” theaters that have survived.

In 1959, with the help of Call-Chronicle newspaper owners Sam and Donald Miller, The Lyric was purchased by the Allentown Symphony Association, established in 1951, as a permanent home for its symphony orchestra, and re-christened Symphony Hall.

Since 1990, $12 million has been raised by the Allentown Symphony Association from public and private sources to renovate the theater. Renovations continue to this day, with plans for future projects.

In 2012, it was renamed Miller Symphony Hall in honor of the family who saved it and who continue to support it today.

The Hall has helped catalyze the redevelopment of Allentown’s urban core. As a multi-use performing arts center, it serves as a performance space for the Allentown Symphony Orchestra and a range of diverse artistic organizations.