Maestro Miropolsky, the Assistant Principal Second Violin with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and our former Music Director and Conductor has served as principal violinist with the Moscow State Symphony, performed with the Radio and Television String Quartet in many countries around the world, and recorded internationally on the Melodia label. He is both the founder and conductor of the Jewish Community Center Chamber Orchestra, conductor of the Northwest School Orchestra in Seattle, served as a faculty member for the University of Puget Sound, founded and conducts the Seattle Conservatory of Music Chamber Orchestra Young Virtuosi, and also currently serves as the Music Director of Cascade Symphony.  or double click on the text box to start editing the content and make sure to add any relevant details or information that you want to share with your visitors.

Maestro Radcliffe took the helm of the Thalia Symphony beginning with the 2010 – 2011 season, and was instrumental in injecting a new surge of creative energy. The orchestra moved its rehearsals to Roosevelt High School and performance venue to Town Hall, and and officially changed its name to the Thalia Symphony Orchestra. Radcliffe is the founder and Music Director of the New York  Chamber Ensemble, Artistic Director of the  Cape May Music Festival, Principal Guest Conductor of the Hungarian Virtuosi, and Principal Conductor of the Seattle Youth Symphony, the largest organization of its kind in the United States. 

Dr. Eric Hanson was the Director of Instrumental Music at Seattle Pacific University 1979 to 2016, and Thalia was privileged to have him at our helm from 1987 to 2010. He has conducted dozens of orchestras across the US and is a frequent guest conductor of the Northwest Mahler Festival. Dr Hanson continues to be a popular lecturer for the Seattle Symphony and is widely known as an eminent Mahler expert. 
In 1994, Dr. Hanson negotiated an innovative arrangement in which Thalia Symphony became Orchestra in Residence at Seattle Pacific University. SPU students were able to earn college credit by playing in the  orchestra, and were exposed to a larger, fuller orchestral experience than might otherwise have been available to them. SPU provided generous support including rehearsal space, performance space, and publicity assistance. 

Stanley Chapple’s career is almost legendary. He began conducting at age 19 when he was hired as director of the City of London School Opera. At age 21 he appeared as guest conductor with London Symphony Orchestra. In 1930, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra invited him to appear with them as guest conductor, and he quickly became in great demand throughout Europe.
Chapple spent WW2 in the United States, among other things conducting the National Symphony Orchestra. In 1948 he was invited to direct the University of Washington School of Music, where he stayed until he retired in 1971. During the period from 1948 to 1954, he also conducted many of the concerts for the Seattle Symphony . After retirement, Stanley Chapple was far from finished. At the request of the then Mayor of Seattle, he founded the Musicians Emeritus Symphony Orchestra, which continues today as the Seattle Festival Orchestra, and he took the reigns of Thalia Symphony in 1977.

Thalia Symphony has benefited greatly by the active involvement of Frances Walton, a well-known, excellent amateur pianist and cellist and passionate supporter of music education. During her tenure as Associate Conductor, from 1954 to 1977, she conducted a broad range of symphonic music, including all the Brahms symphonies.  Frances’ accomplishments for the Seattle musical community are immense and included:

• Founding Thalia Youth Symphonies in 1964, which continues today as the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestras. 

• Founding Olympic Music Camp, a summer program for students, which ran from 1964 through 1997.

• Founding the Thalia Chamber Orchestra to concentrate on chamber-sized works. Frances conducted the Thalia Chamber Orchestra from its beginning in 1972 until 1990, and the orchestra continues to operate today as Philharmonia Northwest.

Thalia Symphony was extremely fortunate in the leadership of Mikael Scheremetiew, its founder and first music director from 1949 until his death in 1977. He was an excellent conductor and an innovator. Among other accomplishments:

• He took chamber operas such as Hansel and Gretel and Amahl and the Night Visitors on tour across Washington. KING Television aired Granny’s Magic Book, a “songplay for children and adults,” on June 5, 1953. This featured book and lyrics by Thalia’s drama director and music by Scheremetiew.

• He appointed Frances Walton as Associate Conductor in 1954, at a time when a woman on the podium was unheard of. 

• He performed new works from contemporary composers, including Gerald Kechley and George Frederick McKay. 

• He routinely invited other Northwest conductors to rehearse and perform works with the orchestra. Most concerts during his tenure would include one composition led by a guest conductor