The Brown University Orchestra (BUO) was founded in 1918 and is composed of approximately 100 members of the

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

community. It was led by conductor Martin J. Fischer at its inception, until his faculty retirement. Paul Phillips led the orchestra from 1989 until 2017, with Mark Seto currently serving as conductor.

Performances

The Brown University Orchestra has performed twice in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, the latter concert featuring the Dave Brubeck Quartet; twice with

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

; once in a Providence concert that featured his daughter Navah Perlman '92 as piano soloist; and once in a benefit concert at

Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...

. Recent special events include a 2002 tour to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, a 2004 performance of Peter Boyer's multimedia composition ''

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

: The Dream of America'' at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence featuring actors

Barry Bostwick Barry Knapp Bostwick (born February 24, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Brad Majors in '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom '' Spin City'' (1996–2002). Bostwick has also ...

and Brown alumna Kate Burton, and a 2006-7 tour of China, which made the BUO only the second American college orchestra to tour China. Most recently, the orchestra toured Ireland in 2013, performed with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 2017, and co-commissioned Tracy Silverman's electric violin concerto ''Love Song to the Sun'' in 2018, featuring an interactive multimedia display designed by Brown professor Todd Winkler. The university has historically performed in Sayles Hall, though plans to move to Brown's new performing arts center following its completion. The orchestra was a driving force behind the construction of the facility.

Musicians

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

, Eugenia Zukerman and Joseph Kalichstein are among the renowned musicians who have appeared as soloists with the Brown University Orchestra. Composers-in-residence hosted by the orchestra include

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

, Steven Stucky,

Michael Torke Michael Torke (; born September 22, 1961) is an American composer who writes music influenced by jazz and minimalism. Torke was born in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Wilson Elementary School, graduated from Wauwatosa East High ...

, Nico Muhly, Lukas Foss, Samuel Adler,

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

, and Joan Tower. Brown University Orchestra

Conductors

Previous conductors of the orchestra have included Martin J. Fischer, Paul Phillips, and Brandon Keith Brown. In December 2006,

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...

served as a guest conductor when he visited with the West-Eastern Divan orchestra. Brown additionally partnered with Barenboim's Barenboim–Said Akademie.

Awards

In 2009, the Brown University Orchestra received the 3rd Prize

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

Award for "Adventurous Programming of

Contemporary Music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

" in the Collegiate Orchestra Division. This is the seventh time that the Brown University Orchestra, a member of the American Symphony Orchestra League, has won this prestigious national honor, having received ASCAP Awards previously in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, and 2005. (2004 and later)

References

External links

Brown University Orchestra
1918 establishments in Rhode Island American symphony orchestras Brown University organizations Musical groups established in 1918 Orchestras based in Rhode Island University orchestras {{US-orchestra-stub