Proceeds from this concert, featuring the world premiere of a new work by ASO Music Director Carlos Izcaray, will be added to a bequest from Gloria Moody’s estate to endow the Alabama Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Flute Chair, currently held by Lisa Wienhold.

Gloria Narramore Moody was an amazing philanthropist, musician, and teacher. She devoted her life to the development and support of classical music. Most notably for the ASO, she served for four years as President of the Board of Directors of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, helping shape the re-emerging orchestra to one of the finest in the Southeast. Gloria served on the Boards of Directors of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra (including six years as president), the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Opera Birmingham, the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, and the Birmingham Museum of Art, among others.
Gloria’s dedication to arts organizations throughout the Southeast earned her many honors and awards including a lifetime achievement award from the Alabama State Council for the Arts.

She remained a dedicated donor to the University of Alabama’s School of Music, her alma mater, for the entirety of her life and helped to foster a love of music for students throughout the organization. Her acclaim as a performer was widespread from an early age until her final public performance alongside the ASO at the orchestra’s annual gala in 2000, an event at which she was honored for contributions to the ASO and received acclaim for her beautiful performance of Brahms’ Intermezzo. Carlos Izcaray, current ASO Music Director, states, “Gloria Moody was a powerful voice in the ongoing quest to change lives through music. She is incredibly missed and we are honored to put this concert on to celebrate her remarkable life and her dedication to this cause.” He has composed a work, titled 88, specifically for this concert, to be premiered in honor of Gloria.