The original Athenaeum Orchestra was organized as a zither ensemble in the
1870’s. About 1875 Emil Wulschner organized the group
as an orchestra first known as The Musicverien. All the members were the finest
German musicians in the city and spoke only German. From
1897 to 1918 this group was considered the finest orchestra in Indianapolis. Due
to anti-German sentiment, the Musicverien was
disbanded in 1918. In 1930 when the Indianapolis Symphony was organized, several
members of the old Musicverien became its charter
members. Constantine G. Borshoff organized the Athenaeum Turners Orchestra in
1940. Former conductors of the Turners Orchestra include
David W. Hughes, Jackson Whiley, Edward Staubach and Dr. Charles Conrad. The
orchestra was reorganized in 1995 as the Athenaeum Pops Orchestra under the
direction of Benjamin Winkler. It was later conducted by Richard Marcus, Peter
Heins, Richard Moon and José Valencia. The Orchestra is currently under the direction of
Dr. Lee H. Jones