About IGO
The rose and the bud on our logo symbolize the concept of The Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha. The rose in full bloom signifies the lifetime of experience our older musicians bring to the group, while the rosebud represents the emerging talents of our younger artists.
Chris Gillette, our project director, and a former co-worker, Cora Lee Bell, formed the Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha in the spring of 1985. Funded in 1985 through a grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation, with sponsorship of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, the Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha brings together performing artists of two eras, joined through the universal language of music. Musicians may audition if they are either age 50 and older or age 25 and younger. There are no minimum or maximum age restrictions in the ensemble.
The Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha is funded entirely through grants, donations, memberships, fundraisers and performance fees. The ENOA also contributes a variety of in-kind services to assist with the administration of the group. The Orchestra is run by a Board of Directors, which includes two elected younger and two elected older Orchestra musicians.
IGO Conductor
Chuck Penington IGO Founding Conductor and Music Director began piano lessons at age 6 and composed his first piece of music a year later. He performed with musical legends such as Tom Jones, Henry Mancini, Wayne Newton and Engelbert Humperdinck. Chuck was the featured keyboard artist and conductor for the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Tour. IGO was blessed with thirty four seasons of auditions, compositions, 305 concerts, recording sessions, tours to Washington DC, for a performance on the lawn of the White House, Dallas, Pittsburgh, South Dakota, and Kansas City. IGO’s Founding Conductor and Music Director Chuck Penington passed away in November 2018.