Orchestral Studies offers performance opportunities to music majors and non-majors. With three ensembles, any interested UNT student can find an ensemble to develop their musicianship, experience the excellence of the College of Music, and participate in the greater UNT community.  With approximately 80% of its members receiving a scholarship, the UNT Chamber and Symphony Orchestras consist of students from 26 states and 18 countries.

UNT Symphony Orchestra
The UNT Symphony orchestra was established in 1938 and has played concerts regularly for 70 years.  During this time the orchestra has had only seven regular conductors.  With the recent retirement of Maestro Anshel Brusilow, the 80-member ensemble is currently under the direction of its 7th conductor, Maestro David Itkin.  The UNT Symphony is quickly being recognized as one of America’s top training grounds for professional orchestral players.

Highlights of the Symphony Orchestra’s 2008-2009 repertoire include:
Barber                     School for Scandal Overture
Berlioz                     Nuits d’Etes
Dvorak                     Symphony #7 in D minor, Op. 70
Rachmaninoff           Paganini Variations
Rimsky-Korsakoff     Scheherazade
R. Strauss               Till Eulenspiegel                                                         
Brubeck                   Pange Lingua Variations
Tomasi                    Concerto for Alto Saxophone
Shostakovich           Symphony No. 5
Brahms                    A German Requiem

UNT Chamber Orchestra
The UNT Chamber Orchestra is comprised of approximately 36 outstanding musicians from student body of the College of Music.  Experience in the Chamber Orchestra gives students the opportunity to discover a body of orchestral literature that is subtle, complex, and largely unexplored.  The Chamber Orchestra was invited to play at the Mozart Bicentennial at Lincoln Center in 1991.  This all-Mozart program marked the orchestra’s first professional New York appearance.  The UNT Chamber Orchestra also performs an opera each semester with the UNT Opera Theatre. 

Highlights of the Chamber Orchestra’s 2008-2009 repertoire include:
Honegger     Symphony No. 4 “Deliciae Balilienses”
Beethoven   Triple Concerto
De Falla       El Amor Brujo
Copland       Appalachian Spring
Beethoven   Symphony No. 1
Mozart        Symphony No. 33
Puccini        La Boheme
Ravel          L’Enfant et les Sortileges

UNT Repertoire Orchestra
Open to any qualified university student, the UNT Repertoire Orchestra offers an opportunity for student musicians to rehearse and perform in an orchestral ensemble and improve their musical, technical, and ensemble skills and knowledge.  The Repertoire Orchestra presents one concert performance each semester, conducted by the graduate conducting candidates of the College of Music.  Rehearsals are conducted by the graduate students under the intense supervision of the Director of Orchestral Studies.