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Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts

Orchestras

Symphony Orchestra

The Illinois State University Symphony Orchestra performs some of the most challenging music in the orchestral repertoire. Any undergraduate or graduate student with orchestral experience is welcome to audition.

The ISU Symphony Orchestra performs six complete concert cycles each academic year, including the annual choral program in October; the Music for the Holidays concerts in December; a Concerto-Aria concert featuring the School of Music's finest performers chosen from the annual competition; and the annual opera or musical, produced in conjunction with the Illinois State University School of Theatre, Dance, and Film.

Philharmonia String Orchestra

The School of Music is pleased to add a second string orchestra, the Philharmonia. The Philharmonia is for non-major students who want to continue playing an advanced high school level string-only repertoire.

The ensemble rehearses two times a week and performs two to three concerts each semester.

  • Performances

    Two concerts each semester.

How to Join

All students regardless of major are welcome to audition for one of our orchestras.

Learn How to Audition

Annual Concerto-Aria Competition

Three finalists from each applied area (brass/percussion, keyboard, strings, voice, and woodwind) will appear in the Concerto-Aria Finals Competition. Two winners will be selected to perform in the ISU Symphony Orchestra's annual Concerto-Aria concert.

Previously Performed Works

 

  • Haydn's Symphony No. 104 "London"
  • Dvorak's Symphony No. 8
  • Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 and Nutcracker Suite No. 1
  • Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
  • Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition
  • Respighi's Pines of Rome

  • Richard Strauss' Death and Transfiguration

  • Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3, Organ Symphony

  • Stravinsky’s Sacre du Printemps, Petrouchka, Firebird Suite, Apollo musagetes

  • Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 5, and Symphony No. 9

  • Copland's Appalachian Spring and Music for the Theater

  • Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana

  • Mozart’s Requiem

  • William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast

  • Verdi’s Messa de Requiem

  • Shostakovich Symphonies No. 5, 10

Contact Us

For more information regarding the Illinois State University Orchestras, fill out the contact form or email Samuel Chen.

News and Events

See what is happening in the School of Music.

Milner Library reading nook

Redbird media: Check out the latest #RedbirdScholar books (fall 2026)

Here are some of the latest books by Illinois State University authors. 

Read more Music news

Spring campus scene with a brick building, a bell monument in the foreground, blooming trees overhead, and colorful flower beds lining a landscaped walkway.

Office of the Provost introduces 2026-27 Fellows
Man stands outside construction zone

Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts transformation project takes shape at Illinois State
Members of the 33rd Illinois Volunteer Regiment Band play on the steps of Cook Hall at Illinois State University

Listen to the past: 33rd Regiment Band to perform at Concerts on the Quad
Sep20

ISU Symphony Orchestra presents United States at 250

9/20/26 at 3:00 PMCenter for the Performing Arts
Sep30

Philharmonia Orchestra Concert

9/30/26 at 7:30 PMKemp Recital Hall
Oct21

Education Career Fair

10/21/26 at 10:00 AMHorton Field House

View all Orchestra events