The popularity of 'guest' conductors, due to the experiment of the Philharmonic Society, led Mr. Damrosch in 1905-06 to hand over the bâton for several concerts to Felix Weingartner; but, as Mr. Henderson says, Weingartner's 'refined scholarship and intellectual subtlety escaped the notice of all save the connoisseurs' and his engagement failed to arouse much public interest. Except for this brief interim Mr. Damrosch has been the society's only conductor since 1885. In addition to its regular activities the orchestra is employed to play the programs of the Young People's Symphony Concerts given originally under the conductorship of Frank Damrosch but latterly under that of Walter. These concerts were planned as an educational series for juveniles, but they have come to make a much wider appeal and attract audiences which consist more of adults than of children. Their educational value is considerable. Of even broader educational value, perhaps, is the work of the People's Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Franz X. Arens--though it is handicapped by lack of sufficient endowment. The object of the orchestra is to provide good music for working people of small means, and it would seem that such an object is sufficiently laudable to attract generous support from those wealthy music-lovers who profess a sincere interest in the promotion of the art. In spite of handicaps the People's Symphony has existed since 1900, but insufficient funds have spelled little rehearsal and few concerts, with a consequent circumscribing of its efforts. When musical cultivation in any community reaches a certain stage it tends to specialize. That stage has long been passed in New York and during recent years there has been a notable outcrop of societies devoted to the study and performance of the compositions of different nations, periods or schools. In the symphonic field the most notable of these is the Russian Symphony Society, founded in 1903. The orchestra, under the direction of Modest Altschuler, is composed largely of Russian musicians and is devoted almost exclusively to the performance of works by Russian composers. Since its foundation it has introduced New York to new compositions by Tschaikowsky, Glinka, Napravnik, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Glazounoff, Rubinstein, Ippolitoff-Ivanoff, Davydoff, Gretchaninoff, Taneieff, Moussorgsky, Arensky, Borodine, Kallinnikoff, Rachmaninoff, Dargomijsky, Afanasyeff, César Cui, Glière, Scriabine, Balakireff, and others. There remains to be mentioned the Volpe Symphony Orchestra founded by Arnold Volpe in 1904, the Italian Symphony Orchestra, formed in 1913 by Pietro Floridia, and a number of temporary orchestras got together for special purposes, such as park concerts. For several years New York has maintained a high standard in its open air free concerts in Central Park. These have been so extensively patronized that it has been found desirable to give as many as seven a week, from June to September.