Symphony Orchestra

All prospective members of the UCI Symphony should use the audition guidelines and signup forms provided.

For the 2022-2023 year, orchestral excerpts plus a solo work are required for the audition.

The UCI Symphony Orchestra is one of the premier large performance ensembles in the Department of Music. The orchestra has been in existence since 1966, offering music majors, non-majors, faculty and other community members an opportunity to study and perform symphonic music of the ages.

The orchestra’s regular concert performances (five or six per year), in the Irvine Barclay Theatre, or the Claire Trevor Theatre, include music from the standard repertoire as well as recently created works and world premieres. Recent orchestra performances have included works such as Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony (No. 4), Debussy’s La Mer, Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (Titan), and Duke Ellington’s The River. The orchestra also offers musical support to the department’s opera program, augments the Dance department’s Dance Visions, and assists in the Drama department’s musical presentations.

In addition to its on campus performances, the UCI Symphony has been honored with invitations to perform at community events and concerts for organizations such as the Desert Visionaires in Palm Desert, and for the Jewish Community Center of Silicon Valley in Los Gatos, California.

In its primary role as an organization designed to prepare students for professional lives in music, the orchestra collaborates frequently with its outstanding faculty performers and professional soloists such as Mezzo-Soprano Marietta Simpson, duo pianists Anthony and Joseph Paratore, and violinists Dr. Lyndon Johnston-Taylor (Los Angeles Philharmonic), Nathan Olson, (Dallas Symphony ), Alyssa Park (Tchaikovsky Competition Prize-Winner), Trio Celeste, Cho-Liang Lin, and AdZel Duo, to name a few. Through the annual Concerto Competition, student soloists are also selected for performances with the orchestra.

In the past conductors Peter Odegard, William Fitzpatrick, Dr. Bernard Gilmore, Mehli Mehta, Alvaro Cassuto, Zelman Bokser, Dr. Thomas Cockrell and Dr. Stephen Tucker have led the orchestra. 

Auditions are required and are open to all UCI students, faculty and staff, as well as community members. They take place during Welcome Week, just before the start of Fall quarter, and are by appointment only. Contact geoffrey.pope@uci.edu for information.

SAMPLE PERFORMANCES

AUDIO: 2nd Movement of Triple Concerto

VIDEO