The next scheduled performances by the Chamber Orchestra are in the 2007-8 season:  Tuesday, September 4, 2007, at Holmes Lounge, and January 22, 2008 at Graham Chapel.

The most recent performance on the Washington University Chamber Orchestra, Elizabeth Macdonald, director, was on January 22, 2007, at Graham Chapel.  The soloist was pianist Mark Tollefsen, a senior at WU, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto, K. 415.  The program began with the Prelude from Saint-Saëns' oratorio, The Flood, Handel's Concerto Grosso, op. 6 no.4, Barber's Adagio, two movements from A Downland Suite by John Ireland, and Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a them by Thomas Tallis.  In that work, the second orchestra was placed in the balcony at Graham Chapel, a beautiful and haunting effect.

Students who are interested in auditioning for the chamber orchestra, or other ensembles in the Music Department for the fall semester, 2007, should visit the WU Music Department   The annual open house for entering students wishing to find out about performance opportunities at WU is at the Music Department during the orientation period for new students each fall. 

There is a complete calendar of music events and information about music courses available on the department web site.

The winter 2006 concert by the WUSTL Chamber Orchestra was on January 23, 2006, at Holmes Lounge.  The concert was a birthday tribute to Mozart and featured arias from several operas, the Adagio and Fugue and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.  The soloists were all recent master's graduates from Washington University.  In addition, there were fascinating readings from letters written by people who knew or saw Mozart, and excerpts from these documents were read by some of the chamber orchestra performers.

The WU Chamber Orchestra, Elizabeth Macdonald, director,  gave a fall concert on September 12, 2005 at 8 p.m. at the Women's Building Formal Lounge, Washington University in St. Louis.  The program was titled, "The Swedish Nightingale", a concert of Swedish music and featured some of the repertoire of Jenny Lind, the famous Swedish soprano who toured America presented by P.T. Barnum in the 1850s.  Jenny Lind was known by royalty and working people alike, and was a close friend of Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann.  The soprano Emily Heslop, Music Library Assistant at Gaylord Music Library, WU, was soloist, singing some Swedish songs and works associated with Jenny Lind, including selections by Handel and Mendelssohn.

Also on the program were chamber orchestra pieces by Swedish composers of various eras.  J. H. Roman was the leading figure in Swedish music in the 18th century.  He was known as the "Swedish Handel", and the orchestra will play his Symphony in G.  Ture Rangström (1884-1947) is one of the last heirs of the Swedish Romantic tradition.  Though well known for his songs, the chamber orchestra will be playing a haunting early work for strings, Divertimento elegiaco.  Composer and conductor Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960) is represented by two works, Elegi, from his incidental music from a play about Gustavus Adolphus, the great Swedish king during the Thirty-year's war, and Vallflickens Dans (Shepherd-girl's dance), a movement from the ballet, The Mountain King.  Ending the program will be Dag Wiren's popular neo-classical Serenade for Strings. 

For students interested in strings at Washington University, there are several options to consider. Private lessons are offered for violin, viola, cello, viola da gamba and bass. Advanced players should consider auditioning for the ensembles at WU. The symphony orchestra, conducted by Dan Presgrave, meets weekly and gives four concerts per year. The chamber orchestra, conducted by Elizabeth Macdonald, performs two concerts per year, early in each semester. The small chamber ensembles have weekly coaching and perform on and off campus, occasionally for professional engagements.

The music department was pleased to receive the following letter from a WU alum who was in attendance at the February 2,2004 concert, Mr. R. Ballard, and who was moved to write:

"Dear friends– I attended Monday's Chamber Orchestra concert in Umrath Hall and was very pleased.  The Chamber Orchestra performed skillfully and had a rich, balanced sound; the room acoustics were good (nice for an elegant room not intended for musical presentations and without acoustic padding); and I had no idea that Washington University owned a harpsichord (I am not being frivolous).

"As a student I did not participate with the Department of Music (I am a former bassoonist and piantist who was forced to concentrate on his engineering studies), but I am very happy to observe that Washington University's Department of Music has grown significantly since I was a student.  I believe that Washington University's Department of Music is a significant asset to the University that should receive greater exposure and recognition.

"I look forward to future concerts."

Here is list of repertoire performed by the Washington University Chamber Orchestra since 1994: