The Brown University Orchestra (BUO) was founded in 1918 and is composed of approximately 100 members of the Brown University community. It was led by conductor Martin J. Fischer at its inception, until his faculty retirement. Paul Phillips lead the orchestra from 1989 until 2017, with Mark Seto currently serving as conductor.

Performances

The Brown University Orchestra has performed twice in Carnegie Hall, the latter concert featuring the

Dave Brubeck Quartet David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

; twice with Itzhak Perlman; 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 in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, desi ...

. Recent special events include a 2002 tour to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

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

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...

: 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 musical comedy horror film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom ''Spin City'' (199 ...

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 Tracy Silverman (born April 7, 1960) is an American violinist, composer, and producer. Biography Born in Peekskill, New York and raised in Beloit, Wisconsin, he attended Beloit Memorial High School but left after two years when he was sixteen ...

'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,

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman ( he, פנחס צוקרמן, 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 Zuk ...

Eugenia Zukerman Eugenia Rich Zukerman (born September 25, 1944, Cambridge, Massachusetts) is an American flutist, writer, and journalist. An internationally renowned flute virtuoso, Zukerman has been performing with major orchestras and at major music festivals i ...

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, 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, Wisconsin, where he attended Wilson Elementary School, graduated from Wauwatosa East High School, an ...

Nico Muhly Nico Asher Muhly (; born August 26, 1981) is an American contemporary classical music composer and arranger who has worked and recorded with both classical and pop musicians. A prolific composer, he has composed for many notable symphony orchestras ...

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

, Samuel Adler, Philip Glass, and

Joan Tower Joan Tower (born September 6, 1938)http://www.schirmer.com/default.aspx?TabId=2419&State_2872=2&ComposerId_2872=1605 Biography on Schirmer is a Grammy-winning contemporary American composer, concert pianist and conductor. Lauded by ''The New York ...

Conductors

Previous conductors of the orchestra have included Martin J. Fischer, Paul Phillips, and Brandon Keith Brown. In December 2006, Daniel Barenboim 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 Award for "Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music" 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 orchestras Brown University organizations Musical groups established in 1918 Musical groups from Rhode Island Performing arts in Rhode Island University orchestras {{US-orchestra-stub