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And we don't look a day over 61. Flip through our first concert program ever from April 15, 1961 Stay tuned for when we announce our 2022-23 Season...COMING SOON!

On this day 61 years ago, the Symphony made its debut as a community orchestra, with a roster of 24 volunteer musicians playing in schools and community centers. We can only imagine the vision, inspiration, and determination that must have been required by our founders to start an orchestra in 1961.


As our area began to grow with residents arriving from major metropolises of the north, many of whom were accustomed to having regular access to symphonic performances, local piano teacher, Arlo Diebler, identified a need and desire for symphonic music in Southwest Florida and established the Fort Myers Symphony. After three decades, the orchestra transitioned into a fully professional orchestra.


Today, SWFLSO has a roster of 70 world-class musicians, is the 4th oldest continuously operating orchestra in the state, and is the only professional orchestra in Lee County! Today we celebrate sixty-one fabulous seasons as one of the arts and cultural pillars of the community. Stay tuned for when we announce our marvelous 61st season of concerts and guest artists...coming soon!

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Flip through our first program ever!

April 15, 1961

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Arlo Diebler

"My motivation for coming to Fort Myers was simple. I was just finishing school and assisting several conductors in St. Louis. They were all young enough that there seemed no prospect in my taking one of their places. We talked very simply but very earnestly about where a young man just starting out might start a Symphony in the United States. I had some property in Cape Coral, which at the time was a very unpopulated rural area, so we kept coming back to the fact that neighboring Fort Myers might just be the sort of community we were looking for.”


— Arlo Diebler explains his conversation with his mentor John Edwards (who later became manager of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), prior to Diebler's move to Southwest Florida.


News-Press | October 18, 1985


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