 At the time, the Norfolk Civic Symphony Orchestra was the only American orchestra between Baltimore and Atlanta.In 1949, during the music directorship of Edgar Schenkman, the Norfolk Civic Symphony Orchestra merged with the Civic Chorus to form the Norfolk Symphony and Choral Association.During the subsequent music directorship of Russell Stanger, the orchestra hired its first African-American musician, and took up residency in Chrysler Hall, which had opened in 1972.