Our history

The Grand Rapids Symphonette began in 1935 as the St. Mary’s Orchestra of Grand Rapids.  Its first season was in the basement of St. Mary’s school  under the direction of Walter Husted and first violinist Arthur Zalaoras. The orchestra’s membership included youth and adults from the St. Mary’s Parish.

In the following decades, the orchestra took on the mission of bringing music to people who could not travel to concert halls to attend performances.  Each season, the group performed at retirement communities and nursing homes.  The orchestra eventually came to be known as the Grand Rapids Symphonette as the membership began to include musicians from outside of the St. Mary’s Parish.

In 1985, Elaine Parker-Shaw became the conductor.  Ms. Parker-Shaw earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Michigan.  She was a band director at Harrison Park and Riverside junior high schools in the 1950s. The Symphonette continued the tradition of bringing music to people in retirement communities under her direction.  It was during Ms. Parker-Shaw’s tenure that the orchestra first performed on Royce Stage at the St. Cecilia Music Society.

Pete DeLille joined the group in 2009 as co-conductor and became the conductor in 2010.  A graduate of Western Michigan University, he began his career as a band director in Ohio in 1976.  He became a band director for the Caledonia Community Schools in 1978 and founded the orchestra program there in 1984.  Mr. DeLille retired from the Caledonia music program in the spring of 2013, and from the Symphonette in December 2016.