Performance

The University Chamber Orchestra is a 40-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 Music Department's annual collaboration with the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company.

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.

The Rockefeller Chapel Choir and its professional subset, the Decani, sing at Sunday services and festivals throughout the academic year and also in Rockefeller's signature Quire & Place concert series, presenting major works from the entire historical canon, lesser-known gems, and the premières of new work by distinguished composers. The choir's members come from diverse spiritual and cultural backgrounds, sharing together the rich musical experience of singing an array of choral music in the unique religious and cultural contexts of a chapel to which students of all world traditions are drawn.

The Women's Ensemble is made up primarily of undergraduate women at the University of Chicago. We explore classical repertoire from the Medieval era up through the present day and music from polyphonic singing traditions across the world, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Republic of Georgia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Sweden, and Norway, as well as a variety of American singing traditions. Through diverse repertoire, we strive to bring our voices together in powerful ways.

As the premier undergraduate choral ensemble at the University of Chicago, the Motet Choir accepts 28-36 singers each year. Concentrating on a cappella masterworks of all periods, this polished vocal ensemble specializes in music of the Renaissance and also performs historically and culturally diverse repertoire ranging from Gregorian chant to gospel standards. The Motet Choir presents at least three major concerts per year (one each quarter) and sings at convocations and special events on campus and throughout the Chicago area. The ensemble goes on tour every second year, often during the University's spring break.

The University Chorus is the largest vocal ensemble on campus. Its season includes an annual production of Handel's Messiah as well as presentations of choral masterworks such as Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, and Verdi's Messa da requiem. Among its 80 to 100 members are undergraduates, graduates, faculty and staff members, and singers from the Hyde Park and University community: The result is a wonderfully diverse group of vocalists, collaborating in performances of monuments of the literature. The University Chorus presents three to four concerts per season, culminating in a festive year-end performance with the combined choirs and the University Symphony Orchestra.

The Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of John Corkill, consists of skilled undergraduate and graduate student percussionists who specialize in mallets, drums, mixed, and world percussion. The group rehearses weekly and presents two or more concerts per season, showcasing a variety of solo, duo, and small ensemble works for mixed percussion. Members of the Percussion Ensemble are expected to play regularly with the University Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz X-tet, as needed.

In addition to the four choral ensembles sponsored by the Department of Music, the Vocal Studies Program, open to undergraduate and graduate students at the University, provides opportunities for singers’ involvement and musical growth. Under the direction of acclaimed soprano and pedagogue Patrice Michaels, this program encompasses both individual and group coaching opportunities as well as master classes and workshops on the singers’ art. Participants have the opportunity to perform on Thursday Tea Time Concerts, on Vocal Music Showcase concerts, and in a variety of special programs on campus and in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Special projects often focus on a particular theme, a particular composer, or a particular genre or historical period. Singers also have opportunities to work with instrumentalists involved in the Chamber Music Program and Piano Program, and to collaborate with Department of Music graduate and undergraduate composers on new works.

Student pianists, both undergraduate and graduate, can enhance their musical skills and experience through master classes, quarterly Piano Showcase concerts, and numerous other opportunities offered by the Department of Music’s Piano Program. Students in the program receive regular coaching sessions with the Director of Piano Studies, and they are invited to participate in master classes with visiting guest artists and local professional pianists as well. Performance opportunities include numerous concerts both on and off campus, many of which focus on a specific composer or historical period.

The wide-ranging and inclusive Chamber Music Program provides numerous performance opportunities for undergraduate and graduate student musicians. Chamber music groups are organized at the beginning of the year, guided in the selection of repertoire, and coached regularly by the Chamber Music Program Director as well as by the Department's artists-in-residence. Periodic coaching opportunities with visiting guest artists and other Chicago-area musicians are also available, as opportunities arise and/or repertoire dictates. Chamber music groups participate in quarterly Chamber Music Master Classes and perform on the Thursday Tea Time Concert Series, on Chamber Music Showcase concerts, and on recitals and concerts in the Campus North Dormitory and at a local retirement community.