Robert Whitney (conductor)

{{Short description|American conductor (1904–1986)}}

Robert Sutton Whitney (July 9, 1904 – November 22, 1986){{cite web|title=WorldCat Identities Page for Robert Sutton Whitney|url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n84-123280|accessdate=2 March 2009}}{{cite news|journal=Lexington Herald-Leader|location=Lexington, KY|date=23 November 1986|page=D7|title=Louisville Orchestra Founder, Conductor Robert Whitney Dies}} was an American conductor and composer. He was a student of Leo Sowerby.{{cite web|title=Cedille Records Notes|url=http://www.cedillerecords.org/albums/leo-sowerby-symphony-no-2-other-works|accessdate=2 March 2009}}

Robert Whitney was best known for founding, in November 1937, together with the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky the Louisville Orchestra, and becoming its first conductor, a post he held until 1967.Cox, Dwayne; Morison, William James (2000). {{Google books|JYoVg6RogawC|The University of Louisville}}. University Press of Kentucky. p. 119. {{ISBN|0-8131-2142-6}}. (Its original name was the "Louisville Civic Arts Association," which was later changed to the "Louisville Philharmonic Society." The orchestra finally adopted its current name after it filed an amendment to its articles of incorporation in 1977.){{Citation needed|date=July 2020|reason=none of this is verified in the citation at the end of the nexr sentence}} His concerto grosso had earlier (1934) been performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Whitney also served as dean of the School of Music of the University of Louisville, from 1956 to 1971.

He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.{{cite web | title=Robert S. Whitney papers (1988_099) Accession 1996-110 Series I. Awards - Box 4: Delta Omicron National Professional Music Fraternity Certificate, June 28, 1957 | publisher=University of Louisville Archives Catalog | url=https://archivescatalog.library.louisville.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/13101}}

Whitney Hall, the largest performance venue in The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts is named for him.