Artis—Naples Announces Retirement of Naples Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Basham

Artis—Naples Announces Retirement of

Naples Philharmonic Concertmaster, Glenn Basham

Basham retires after 30 years of service

Artis—Naples to honor Basham on

Community Day, November 12, 2022

Naples, FL (April 18, 2022) – Artis—Naples announced today the retirement of Naples Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Basham after a distinguished 30-year career with the orchestra. Basham joined the Naples Philharmonic in 1992 as a guest concertmaster and was appointed to the position on a full-time basis in 1994 by then-music director Christopher Seaman.

In announcing Basham’s retirement, Artis—Naples CEO and President Kathleen van Bergen paid tribute to his talent, creativity and the relationships he forged with musicians, guest artists, patrons and the community.

“Glenn has been an integral part of the Naples Philharmonic for 30 years, and it is hard to imagine how the orchestra could have grown and flourished without his incredible musical talent, his leadership and his commitment,” van Bergen said. “We look forward to honoring Glenn in a special program on our fall Community Day on November 12.”

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to have served as the concertmaster of the Naples Philharmonic all these years, and my wife, Leelo, and I are filled with gratitude for all our wonderful friends and dear colleagues in the orchestra,” said Basham.

 Basham has served as concertmaster under Naples Philharmonic music directors Timothy Russell, Christopher Seaman, Jorge Mester and Andrey Boreyko and principal pops conductors Erich Kunzel and Jack Everly.

Throughout the years Basham has offered many notable performances as a soloist, including performances of Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending conducted by Keith Lockhart, Vivaldi The Four Seasons conducted by Christopher Seaman, Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto conducted by Jorge Mester and Mozart Sinfonia concertante conducted by Rossen Milanov. In addition to performing in his primary role with the Naples Philharmonic, Basham has often delighted audiences in the Pops and the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra’s All That Jazz series as both a violinist and a harmonica player and has collaborated frequently with pianist Jodie DeSalvo in her popular Piano Talks series. Glenn Basham was also a member of the Bergonzi Quartet, which was in residence at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music, where Basham served as professor from 1992 until 2016. Additionally, for the last three years, he has served as professor at Florida Gulf Coast University.

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