Dear Orchestra Musician:

I hope this letter finds you enjoying a wonderful summer. Mine has been extremely busy, but very rewarding. I am eagerly anticipating next year. It should a very exciting season filled with great music. I have made some preliminary programming decisions for the University Symphony Orchestra, which should demonstrate the quality and scope of the repertoire I hope to share with you. Some of those works tentatively include:

Mahler – Symphony #1
R. Strauss – Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks
Brahms – Symphony #2
Beethoven – Symphony #5
and
Western Skies, a new work by CU composer Dan Kellogg. This will be the Colorado premiere of the work which was commissioned and performed by the National Symphony Orchestra this past spring, and performed on their Asian tour this summer.

Obviously there will be much more, but these are some of the highlights I have planned for us.

Auditions:

University Symphony Orchestra
Auditions for the Fall 2008 semester are open to all students at CU. String auditions will be held on Monday, August 24 and Tuesday, August 25. The precise schedule, along with signup sheets, will be posted Monday, August 10 outside E160 in the College of Music. String audition excerpts are posted on this website and available for download. All string majors planning to participate in the University Symphony Orchestra will audition through this process. Wind and percussion auditions will be held beginning August 20. Audition materials for winds and percussion are available at http://bands.colorado.edu.

The links to string audition materials below are in pdf format:

Violin | Viola | Cello | Double Bass

These excerpts are password protected. We have attempted to distribute the password through email. If you did not receive the password, please contact Diana Wilson at 303-492-6584 or diana.wilson@colorado.edu.

Please note that there may be multiple excerpts in each PDF file, so please look carefully through all material. The following is a detailed list of the excerpts for your instrument which you should find and for which you are responsible:

Violin
Beethoven 5 – mvt. 2 (beg. – m.176)
Brahms 2 – mvt. 1 (beg – m.155)
Mahler 1 – mvt. 2 (reh. 8 – 11)
Mahler 1 – mvt. 4 (beg. – 8 after reh. 3)

Viola
Beethoven 5 – mvt. 2 (beg. – m.106)
Brahms 2 – mvt. 1 (m.114 – 136; m.204 – 224)
Mahler 1 – mvt. 1 (reh. 27 – end)

Cello
Beethoven 5 – mvt. 2 (beg. – m.59; m.98 – 123)
Beethoven 5 – mvt. 3 (beg. - m.218)

Double Bass
Beethoven 5 – mvt. 3 (beg. - m.218)
Brahms 2 – mvt. 1 (beg. – m.66; reh. E – F)
Brahms 2 – mvt. 4 (m.244 – 279)
Mahler 1 – opening solo

Campus Orchestra
The Campus Orchestra is an ensemble comprised of music and non-music majors which delivers one concert performance each semester.  This ensemble rehearses on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in room E-160 of the College of Music. Although there is no audition requirement to participate in this ensemble, a chair placement hearing is necessary to provide seating that best benefits the orchestra and its members.  If you would like to access the excerpts from which those audition materials will be drawn, please email Mr. Walls at chris.walls@colorado.edu.  String instrument musicians, of any major, interested in participating should attend the first meeting of the ensemble, Wednesday, August 26, at 7 p.m. in room E-160 in the College of Music. Wind, brass and percussion students earn placement into this ensemble through College of Music studio auditions at the beginning of each semester. Any questions should be directed to Chris Walls at chris.walls@colorado.edu.

Ensemble Contact Information:
Diana Wilson, Program Assistant
Email: Wilsond@colorado.edu
Office Location: Room E172, Imig Music Building
Office Phone: 303-492-6584
Mailing Address: 301 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0301