The University of Copenhagen Symphony Orchestra, also called "SymfUni" is an
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
that was founded by a group of students at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
in 2007. It is based in
Frederiksberg,
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
.
General information
''SymfUni'' was founded in 2007 by a group of students at the University of Copenhagen. At this moment, the orchestra consists of about 60 students from all kinds of study programs at the University of Copenhagen as well as a large group of international students and students from other universities in the
Copenhagen metropolitan area. ''SymfUni'' has collaborated with different choirs and in spring 2012 the orchestra travelled to the Netherlands to perform
Niels Gade
Niels Wilhelm Gade (22 February 1817 – 21 December 1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Together with Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann, he was the leading Danish musician of his day.
Biography
Gade was born ...
’s Erl King's Daughter together with a Dutch student choir from
Nijmegen
Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...
. In April 2015, SymfUni attended the European Student Orchestra Festival in
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
.
Repertoire
The orchestra has played a number of concerts around
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
with a broad repertoire – from
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
to
Bizet
Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...
.
In autumn 2013 SymfUni collaborated with
Universitätschor Dresden and played amongst others
God in Disguise
''God in Disguise'' (in Swedish: ; sometimes translated to English as ''A God Disguised'' or ''Disguised God''), Op. 24, is a cantata (officially " lyrical suite") for narrator, soprano, baritone, mixed choir, and orchestra written in 194 ...
by
Lars-Erik Larsson
Lars-Erik Vilner Larsson (15 May 190827 December 1986) was a Swedish composer, conductor, radio producer, and educator. He wrote three of the most popular works (each a suite) in Swedish art music: ''A Winter's Tale'' (; 1937–1938), the '' Pas ...
and Vom Himmel hoch by
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
.
In spring 2014 the orchestra played movie music, amongst others E.T. - Adventures on Earth and Raider's March by
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
.
Winter 2014 the orchestra played amongst others in Koncertkirken in
Nørrebro
Nørrebro (, ) is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate (''Nørreport''), which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current Nørreport station ...
. On the repertoire was
Aleksandr Borodin's Polovtsian Dances,
Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
by
Tchaikovsky and
Piano Concerto No. 2 by
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
.
In the spring 2015 SymfUni performed amongst others
Carl Nielsen's Aladdin
Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...
and music from
Elverhøj
''Elves' Hill'' ( da, Elverhøj) is a comedy by Johan Ludvig Heiberg, with overture and incidental music by Friedrich Kuhlau (Op. 100), which is considered the first Danish national play.
History
''Elves' Hill'' was commissioned by Frederik V ...
by
Friedrich Kuhlau
Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau (German; Danish sometimes ''Frederick Kulav'') (11 September 1786 – 12 March 1832) was a Danish pianist and composer during the late Classical and early Romantic periods. He was a central figure of the Danish ...
in
the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and in
the Church of Our Saviour, Copenhagen.
Conductors
* 2007-2009: Frederik Støvring Olsen
*2009- 2010 Kristoffer Kaas
*2010- 2013 Jan Scheerer
*2014- 2017 Peter Piotr Gasior
*2017- Bram Kortekaas
References
External links
The University of Copenhagen Symphony Orchestra homepageThe University of Copenhagen Symphony Orchestra facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:University of Copenhagen Symphony Orchestra
University orchestras
Musical groups established in 2007
Symphony Orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...