The DePauw University Orchestra prioritizes ensemble development through repertoire for the all-undergraduate ensemble. Auditions for entry suggest a standard for participation. Graded Excerpt Testing before each concert and rotational seating bring focus on intentionality to each student's playing. The purposeful breadth of repertoire for each year is linked to a more comprehensive view across four years of participation. The orchestra presents a number of full orchestra-only concerts which may include faculty soloists, performs in the pit for DePauw Opera performances, works with Pulitzer Prize winning composers to perform their pieces in the Music of the 21st Century festival, plays a Holiday Gala, accompanies student winners of the annual DePauw Concerto Winner's Concert, and performs a year-end annual large-scale Choral Orchestral event with repertoire like Beethoven Symphony No. 9 or Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem. Every other January during DePauw's Winter Term, the nucleus of the DePauw University Orchestra, travels concert tours abroad as the DePauw Chamber Symphony. Recent tours have included Japan, Austria, Germany, and England.
Recent Repertoire:
Pines of Roma - Ottorino Respighi
Symphony No. 7 - Ludvig van Beethoven
Pictures at an Exhibition - Modest Mussorgsky
Voices Shouting Out - Nkeiru Okoye
Hansel and Gretel - Engelbert Humperdinck