The Butte Civic Concert Orchestra blossomed from a small group of 8 musicians who gathered in a colleague’s living room in 1950 and decided they wanted to play beautiful music together. This tradition has been continued for over 56 years. In 1955 the first Board of Directors was formed and a three concert season was initiated. The first concerts were held in the ACM Employees auditorium; later they moved to the Montana School of Mines (Montana Tech) auditorium.

Butte Civic Concert Orchestra became the Butte Symphony Orchestra in 1966, and in 1974 it was incorporated under the name Butte Symphony Association. The 1970’s saw additional changes for the orchestra including having performances in the East Junior High Auditorium. Today it still rehearses in that same space. Printed concert programs were started in 1990. Filled with advertisements, they helped bring in much needed revenue to fund professional “imports” to fill out the orchestra. The mid-1990’s brought other changes for the BSA. Led by Music Director Mathew Savery, the orchestra enjoyed record audience attendance with performances in the beautifully refurbished Mother Lode Theater. Those were also the years when concert sponsors for each performance were secured.

Eleven Music Directors have led the BSA over the last 56 years. Over the years, the BSA has enjoyed the leadership and inspiration of many directors with special projects such as a commission of “’The Glittering Hill” by Butte native Daniel Bukvich and “…in the Mines of Desire” by Erick Santos. Our current Music and Artistic Director is Maestra Elizabeth Stoyanovich, now in her 4th season. She is the first woman to have held this position with the BSA.

Today, the Butte Symphony Association includes a concert chorale as well as the orchestra. The chorale was founded in 1961. Dr. Gary Funk directs the Butte Symphony Chorale. Many combined chorale works have moved and entertained our audiences: Mozart’s “Requiem”, “Coronation Mass”, Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and the all-time favorite, Handel’s “Messiah”.

The Butte Symphony Guild, an intricate part of the Butte Symphony was founded in the late 1950’s when a few ladies formed a loosely knit group to coordinate the sale of tickets for the Butte Civic Orchestra. In April of 1963, Dr. E.G. Koch, Chairman of the Board of Directors, called a meeting for the purpose of forming the Butte Orchestra Guild. The Guild with a membership of approximately 30 women from Butte, Anaconda, Whitehall, Deer Lodge, Sheridan and Dillon was formalized on May 1, 1963. Among the Guild’s functions were raising money, advertising concerts, and securing season tickets sales. In 1963, the first monies were raised to pay professional guest soloists. The Guild sold, renewed, and tracked season tickets through 1994.

Since its inception, The Butte Symphony Association has increased its role in the Butte-Silver Bow community. Our 2006-2007 season marks the first with a budget over $100,000 to support our programs, outreach efforts, and professional staff including a Music Director/Artistic Director, a Chorale Director, an Executive Director, a Music Librarian, a Stage Manager and a variety of guest artists. The majority of the 90 musicians in the orchestra and concert chorale (many coming from all over southwestern Montana) are all volunteers as are the 16 Board Members and the Butte Symphony Guild members. The Butte Symphony Guild, the fundraising “arm” of the association, currently has a membership of 37 women and men from the greater Butte community. Each season they prepare and execute important fundraising events such as the annual Holiday Home Tour and Tea and the Spring Geranium Sale. The Guild also holds two post-concert receptions, assists with the Youth Concerts for school children, and volunteers at subscription concerts.

Twenty-nine individuals have served as President of our Association; our current President is Annette Giop.