History
In the summer of 1936, James Christian Pfohl started the Davidson Music School for Boys at Davidson College in North Carolina. Thirty students and eight faculty members participated in a program of rehearsals, private lessons, recreation and faculty performances and lectures. The six-week program provided Sunday afternoon concerts for Charlotte area audiences. Pfohl began looking for the perfect setting for his "well-balanced program of outdoor recreation and instruction in music and art" and in 1944 moved the summer music camp to its current location just outside the town of Brevard in Transylvania County where it became the coeducational Transylvania Music Camp.
Enrollment flourished, curriculum expanded, opera was performed and the number of concerts increased. The Festival began in 1946 when faculty and internationally renowned guest artists gave master classes and performances at the conclusion of the summer's educational session, paving the way for the Festival and music camp to be named the Brevard Music Center in 1955.
In 1964, Henry Janiec succeeded Pfohl as the artistic director. Having previously conducted at Tanglewood, the Chautauqua Institute and the Charlotte Opera, Janiec was Dean of the School of Music at Converse College in Spartanburg, SC while directing the Music Center. He led the Center for more than thirty years, through the 60th anniversary season in 1996. Music Center alumnus David Effron became the next artistic director for eleven seasons, from 1997-2007. A conductor and educator, Effron has made numerous national and international conducting appearances, was artistic director of the Central City Opera (CO), conducted the New York City Opera, and has taught at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Eastman School of Music and Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.
October 2007 marked the beginning of a new era with Keith Lockhart taking on the role of Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor. Also a Music Center alumnus, he is Conductor of the famed Boston Pops and Music Director of the Utah Symphony. Mr. Lockhart has stayed connected to the Music Center through the rise of his impressive career and has appeared as guest conductor the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and the Transylvania Symphony Orchestra. He is dedicated to preserving the history and advancing the ongoing educational mission of the Music Center.
