Instrumental Ensembles

USO

Director of Performance Program Barbara Schubert spearheads the instrumental ensemble program at Chicago, which includes the University Symphony Orchestra, University Chamber Orchestra, and University Wind Ensemble. The latter two groups are conducted by talented young conductors from the Chicago area.

There is one set of auditions, held at the beginning of the academic year, for membership in any of these Department instrumental ensembles. Returning musicians are required to re-audition every season. Occasional openings occur mid-year in these ensembles, but in general students are both encouraged and expected to participate throughout the season.

University Symphony Orchestra  •  Barbara Schubert, Director

The 100-member University Symphony Orchestra presents an ambitious season of six major concerts per year (two each quarter). Known for its imaginative presentations of unusual repertoire as well as for its powerful performances of major symphonic literature, the University Symphony opens each year with a costumed Halloween concert – a family-friendly event enhanced by storytelling, dancing, and special effects – and closes with a celebratory year-end collaboration with the combined choirs. Repertoire generally encompasses 19th- and 20th- century works written for large orchestral forces, including masterpieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorák, Mahler, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Vaughan Williams, and more. In recent years the USO has presented several silent films with live orchestral accompaniment, including Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, and performed with acclaimed professional soloists every season. USO string sections are coached by the Pacifica Quartet. Membership is chosen on the basis of competitive auditions, and includes both undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, alumni, and some community members.

2012-2013 Concert Dates:

  • Saturday, October 27 at 7:00 & 9:00 pm: Annual Halloween Concert: The Wild, Wild West
  • Saturday, December 1 at 8:00 pm: Verdi, Bruch, and Tchaikovsky
  • Saturday, February 2 at 8:00 pm: Works by Revueltas, Chávez, Fernández, and Márquez
  • Saturday, March 9 at 8:00 pm: 2012 Concerto Competition Co-Winner Nathan Harris, piano performs Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, plus Strauss’ Don Juan
  • Saturday, April 27 at 8:00 pm: Alberto Ginastera’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra featuring internationally acclaimed harpist Bridget Kibbey, plus Ravel’s Alborada del Gracioso and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol
  • Saturday, June 1 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, June 2 at 3:00 pm: Cathy Heifetz Memorial Concerts

Rehearsals: 

  • Wednesdays, 7:30-10:00 pm, Mandel Hall


University Chamber Orchestra  •  Robert Whalen, Director

The University Chamber Orchestra is a 30-member ensemble of strings, woodwinds, and horns that specializes in Baroque, Classical, and 20th-century repertoire for smaller orchestra. The group presents three concerts per year, often pairing a major symphony by Mozart or Haydn with an overture, suite, or concerto for similar forces. The Chamber Orchestra also serves as the pit orchestra for the Department’s annual collaboration with the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, which this year will present The Pirates of Penzance.

2012-2013 Concert Dates:

  • Saturday, November 17 at 8:00 pm: Mozart, Corigliano, and Schubert
  • Saturday, February 9 at 8:00 pm: "Der Abschied" from Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, plus Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F Major, "Pastoral"
  • Friday, March 15, through Sunday, March 17: The Pirates of Penzance
  • Saturday, May 18 at 8:00 pm: World premiere of UChicago graduate student composer Jae-Goo Lee's A Lament for the Innocent, plus works by Beethoven and Mozart

Rehearsals: 

  • Mondays, 7:00-9:30 pm, Logan Performance Penthouse


University Wind Ensemble  •  Chip De Stefano, Director

The University Wind Ensemble is an auditioned group of fifty to sixty instrumentalists with a diverse range of musical interests and experience. The UWE presents one concert per quarter, after an intensive preparation period of six to seven weeks. With a focus on modern literature conceived specifically for the wind ensemble medium, the UWE provides its members with an opportunity to perform music by such renowned wind composers as Malcolm Arnold, Percy Grainger, Gustav Holst, and Frank Ticheli, as well as transcriptions of orchestral masterpieces by J. S. Bach, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, and others. Membership includes talented undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and community members who are dedicated to bringing a wide array of music to the University community.

2012-2013 Concert Dates:


  • Sunday, November 11 at 4:00 pm: Gregson, Gillingham, Ticheli, Grainger, and Mackey
  • Sunday, February 24 at 4:00 PM: Works by Kenneth Hesketh, Vincent Persichetti, Alfred Reed, Robert Sheldon, and Claude T. Smith with UChicago Lab School's UHigh Concert Band
  • Sunday, May 19 at 4:00 PM: Works by Michael Markowski, David Biedenbender, John Mackey, and Alfred Reed

Rehearsals: 

  • Tuesdays, 7:00-9:30 pm, Logan Performance Penthouse