The Atlantic Classical Orchestra is the premier orchestra for the Treasure Coast, committed to the highest quality live performances of orchestral music, both old and new, for the benefit and enrichment of residents, families, and visitors.
In 1990, Andrew “Andy” McMullan heard more than the sounds of the surf along the Vero Beach coastline. He heard the beauty of classical music, and dreamed of bringing a professional orchestra to Florida’s Treasure Coast. Today, that vision, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, has become a cultural gem in our region. With the help of many generous patrons and dedicated volunteers, Andy fulfilled his promise.
When Jean and Andy first met, Andy had received his MM from Rochester’s Eastman School of Music and accepted a position as Director of Bands at the University of Connecticut, where Jean Gentry was completing her MA in music. In his newly formed UConn Concert Band, with few musicians available due to World War II, Andy searched for a competent flutist. He found a timid player who tended to freeze when the music asked otherwise, and recruited student cellist Jean to learn the rudiments of the flute and sit beside her to coach her entrance at a solo passage. During the inaugural concert, before a packed audience, the flutist froze, and Jean saved the moment by filling in with simple notes. “I had to get to know this cellist who could think on her feet and not panic,” Andy said. He and Jean were married in 1950.
The McMullans formed a partnership that stayed stellar across the decades. Andy’s career moved from band work to orchestral performing and conducting. After leaving a tenured university position, he bought a twelve-employee business and grew it to a manufacturing company of 160 before selling it thirty-four years later, never leaving his work on French horn or his conducting of chamber music, opera, and symphony. He also helped Jean realize her lifelong goal of owning and directing an international camp, Alford Lake Camp in Hope, Maine. They raised three children, Mark, Keith, and Kathy; daughter Kathy Kopani played violin for eighteen seasons with the ACO. The couple performed for decades with the Portland Symphony while working for the Maine, New England, and American Camp Associations.
In Jean McMullan’s words: “Andy and I would toss our pet Shih Tzu dogs in the back seat and set off for yet another rehearsal of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. And so it went on for fourteen years.”
The orchestra’s first office was the McMullans’ dining room table, before it moved to Raz and Gordon Allen’s condo. ACO grants, written by Raz and Jean, were defended before judges in Tallahassee, where the Allens flew them in their private plane. The two-city ACO Board, the Stuart Friends under Maxine Graber’s leadership, and the Vero Beach Friends under Raz Allen’s direction all served as fundraisers, collecting ads for the programs and holding benefits in patrons’ homes. Andy recruited the finest professional musicians he could find and searched for venues worthy of the orchestra. Tom Servinsky and Tina Burr Apelgren were among the earliest musicians recruited and still play with the ACO today. Rehearsals were held across the Treasure Coast in schools and churches; performances took place at the First Baptist Church in Vero Beach, later at the Waxlax Center for the Performing Arts, and always at the Lyric Theatre in Stuart. That is how the ACO was launched.
In January 2019, the ACO said goodbye to its visionary founder, Andy McMullan, and in May 2023 to Jean McMullan, his wife and collaborator. Their legacy carries on. The Atlantic Classical Orchestra continues to fill audiences across the Treasure Coast with the sounds of the great masters and emerging new artists. We are forever grateful for the vision, artistry, and spirit that built a platform for professional musicians to share their gifts with our community and the world.
