Eric McIntyre, director
The ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra is dedicated to providing students, faculty, and the greater community with high quality performances of substantial orchestral literature. It also serves as a performing outlet for instrumentalists who wish to explore the immense body of orchestral literature from the past as well as that composed during our lifetimes. The GSO is comprised of student musicians representing all disciplines within the college who are unified by a love of music and a dedication to the art of orchestral performance.
The GSO performs five to seven concerts each season with a wide range of music from the Baroque to the 21st Century. Highlights of recent seasons include performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Verdi’s Requiem, Sibelius’s 2nd Symphony, Liszt’s Les Preludes, Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem, Feldman’s Intersection No. 1, and Holst’s The Planets. During the last few seasons, the GSO has also performed with numerous guest soloists, including violinist Alexander Kerr, violist Jeroen Woudstra, mezzo-soprano Katherine Ciesinski, soprano Lynelle Rowley, trumpeter Nathaniel Mayfield, and baritone saxophonist Aaron Lington. The GSO also continues to establish itself as an ensemble dedicated to the future growth of our art by performing music by living composers. Examples include recent performances of Wojciech Kilar’s Krzesany, Gavin Bryars’s The Sinking of the Titanic, John Corigliano’s Gazebo Dances and Henryk Miko?aj Górecki’s Kleines Requiem für eine Polka as well as several world premieres of new works.
Full GSO rehearsals are Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 4:30–6 p.m. with sectional rehearsals for the string section on Monday evenings 7–8 p.m. and for the winds and brass on Wednesday evenings 7–8 p.m.
Membership in GSO is open to string, woodwind, brass, and percussion players, regardless of major. Admission to the ensemble is by audition. Auditions for new members are held during the first week of classes each semester.
For more information see GSO, please contact Eric McIntyre.