Our Story
Playing for the love of music since 1981
Symphonicity is the premier community orchestra for the largest city in Virginia, the City of Virginia Beach. As a community orchestra, we are comprised of more than 200 talented musicians from the local area, including professional musicians, music educators, and dedicated amateurs who volunteer more than 12,000 hours annually to offer high-quality, innovative, and dynamic symphonic experiences. We offer five masterworks performances, multiple pops concerts, an annual sing-along of Handel's Messiah, an annual children's concert and dozens of small chamber performances throughout our community.
How We Operate
To serve our musicians, we maintain a professional artistic and administrative staff. Our organization is governed by the musician members and is led by a robust musician-selected board of directors composed of business, arts, and education leaders from our community.
Musicians rehearse weekly with monthly concerts throughout the year. The chorus rehearses and performs between January and March. Auditions are held twice annually for strings, once annually for the chorus, and on an as-needed basis for brass, winds and percussion.
What We Do
The Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Town Center, Virginia Beach, is our home for rehearsals and most concerts. In addition to four masterworks performances, an indoor pops concert, an annual sing-along of Handel's Messiah, and an annual children's concert, we also perform up to five Nutcracker performances with Ballet Virginia, multiple pops concerts at the Mount Trashmore Park stage and the King Neptune Park oceanfront stage, and various contracted collaborations with other arts partners. Additionally, numerous chamber ensembles participate in educational and outreach events throughout the region.
How to Contact Us
Our office staff resides in the Pembroke Office Park Building 4. Enter the building and come up to the 4th floor to find us!
Although we are usually in the office at least a few hours each workday, it is best to call to find out if we are available.
SYMPHONICITY OFFICE
291 Independence Blvd.
Pembroke Four, Suite 421,
Virginia Beach, VA
23462
Give us a call: 757-671-8611
Or email: office@symphonicity.org
Our History
The "Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra" started in the summer of 1981 when a group of 35 musicians, under the baton of David S. Kunkel, met together to provide challenging performance experiences for musicians and high-quality, low-cost concerts for the Virginia Beach community. Since then the orchestra has stayed true to its purpose, but is now known as Symphonicity (combining “city” with “Symphony”) to reflect the growth, reach and quality of the organization. In 2017, upon the retirement of our founding director and after an international search, Maestro Daniel W. Boothe took the podium as our Music Director and Conductor.
Though we have garnered local and national nominations and awards for contributions to the arts and effective programming, we are most proud of our members who volunteer thousands of hours to create enriching and memorable experiences for our community.
Symphonicity is a success story built upon the love of music and a desire to share it. However, none of it could be done without the generous and growing support of our patrons, corporate sponsors, and grants from local, regional and national resources.
Our Founding Maestro
David S. Kunkel
As its founding conductor in 1981, David S. Kunkel managed the growth of Symphonicity (formerly the Virginia Beach Symphony Orchestra), taking it from a modest group of volunteers to a professional quality orchestra. Under his leadership, the orchestra grew to perform four subscription concerts annually, a children’s concert, a Messiah Sing-along, and annual summer concerts at the Virginia Beach oceanfront, including the 4th of July Spectacular. After 35 years at the baton, Maestro Kunkel retired in 2016 and is now Music Director and Conductor Emeritus.
Mr. Kunkel is a native of Pennsylvania and began conducting in high school. He graduated from the Navy School of Music and served as pianist in Navy bands in Boston and Iceland. Mr. Kunkel’s other positions in the Navy included Director of the Navy’s premier jazz band, The Commodores; Associate Conductor of the United States Navy Band in Washington DC; and Conducting Instructor at the Armed Forces School of Music.
In 1984, Mr. Kunkel retired from the Navy. He has since served on the Virginia Beach Public Schools’ Advisory Committee for the Gifted and Talented, and as Dean of the Tidewater Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. He held the position of Music Director of the Virginia Musical Theater for five years, and Music Director of the Virginia Savoyards for six years. Mr. Kunkel was instrumental in coordinating the “grass-roots” community support of the construction of the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts in Town Center. Currently, he is a member of the Virginia Beach Performing Arts Theater Advisory Committee, serving on the Design sub-committee. Mr. Kunkel served for many years as Music Director and Choirmaster of the First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach.
