String Ensembles & Orchestra

UK Symphony Orchestra

Director: John Nardolillo | Course No.: MUC 191/691, Tu/Th 3:30-6:30 PM + concerts & special events
Audition Requirements: Open to any UK student by successful audition

Founded in 1918, the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra is a 100-member all-student orchestra presenting more than 50 concerts each year, including classical, chamber and education concerts. The group is made up of undergraduate and graduate students from across the United States, Asia, South America and Europe. The orchestra has regularly performed with world-renowned concert artists including Itzhak Perlman, Lang Lang, Sarah Chang, Gil Shaham, Lynn Harrell, Marvin Hamlisch, Denyce Graves, Christine Brewer, Pink Martini, Ronan Tynan, Mark O’Connor, Wynonna Judd, Keith Lockhart and Arlo Guthrie. The orchestra has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., toured the state of Kentucky regularly, and toured China, playing concerts in major concert halls in Shanghai, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and Beijing. The orchestra’s performance at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts was broadcast on China Central Television, a network reaching more than 1.5 billion viewers. In 2010 the orchestra played for the Opening Ceremonies of the World Equestrian Games, a live performance that featured more than 1,500 performers and 200 horses. The performance was seen live on NBC in the United States by 39 million people, and by an estimated 500 million more television viewers worldwide.

The UK Symphony Orchestra collaborates yearly with UK Opera Theatre and has recently presented productions of Porgy and Bess, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Die Fledermaus, La Traviata, Hänsel und Gretel, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, Romeo et Juliette, Falstaff, Brundibar, Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera. 

The orchestra program at UK has been featured on television and radio around the world including NBC, ESPN, NPR, PBS, the BBC, the CBC, CCTV (China), ARD (Germany), SVG (Sweden) and RAI (Italy). The orchestra’s performances and recordings have also been featured and reviewed in the national press, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe the Los Angeles Times, Opera News, the American Record Guide, Billboard, and Vanity Fair magazine.

UK Philharmonia

MUC 191 SEC 401 | Thurs, 7:30pm-10:00pm
Fine Arts 22 (Band Room)
Marcello Cormio, conductor | John Nardolillo, Director of Orchestras
Audition Requirements: Open to any UK student by audition. Contact marcello.cormio@uky.edu for more information.

The purpose of UK Philarmonia is to provide a positive musical and social experience to all who are interested from across the campus community while producing music at the highest level possible. Rehearsals are upbeat and fun, and the repertoire is both varied and challenging. The diversity of the ensemble itself leads to great opportunities for friendship and mentorship both within the context of music-making and beyond. In addition, the UK Philharmonia aspires to offer a friendly artistic environment that cultivates participation in and advocacy for music on our campus and in our society at large.

Guitar Ensemble

The University of Kentucky Guitar Ensemble performs music for solo guitar, multiple guitars and guitars with other instruments. The guitar ensemble’s repertoire consists of music from different eras and countries, to students' arrangements of pop and rock music. Availability for performance and repertoire options depend on the number of students enrolled in the ensemble each semester. For further information please contact the University of Kentucky Guitar Instructor Dieter Hennings, guitarprogram@uky.edu.

Niles & Verdi String Quartets

The UK School of Music support two academic string quartets. The Niles String Quartet is an elite group of graduate students who receive stipends and other considerations. The Verdi String Quartet consists of top graduate and/or undergraduate students. In recent years, the quartets have gained national notoriety:

  • The Verdi String Quartet, (Daniel Brier and Kyle Van Arsdalen, violins; Ivan Ugorich, viola; and Christopher Erickson, cello) took first place in the college division of the 16th annual Macauley Chamber Music Competition (March 2012).
  • Verdi String Quartet, Second Place in the collegiate division of the 15th annual Macauley Chamber Music Competition (2010).
  • Niles Quartet, First Place in the college division of the Macauley Chamber Competition (2008), invited to study at the Banff Festival, and coached with members of the Juilliard String Quartet in New York (2008).

Contact Benjamin Karp, bckarp00@uky.edu, for more information.

Created 07/22/2021
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Last Updated 08/23/2023