University Chorus
Mollie Stone, director
The University Chorus is the largest vocal ensemble on campus. Among its 90 to 120 members are undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff members, and singers from the Hyde Park and University community. The result is a wonderfully diverse group of vocalists who collaborate in performances of great monuments of the literature and also explore diverse world music traditions.
Rockefeller Chapel Choir
James Kallembach, director
The Rockefeller Chapel Choir and its professional artists-in-residence sing at Sunday services and quarterly evening concerts or evensongs. Major concert works have recently included the Rachmaninov Vespers, Schafer's Medieval Bestiary, and the Bach B Minor Mass with players from the Haymarket Opera Orchestra. An active commissioning program ensures the inclusion of new works by UChicago and international composers, both established and emerging.
Motet Choir
James Kallembach, director
As the premier undergraduate choral ensemble at the University of Chicago, the Motet Choir accepts 28-36 singers each year. Concentrating on a cappellamasterworks of all periods, this polished vocal ensemble specializes in music of the Renaissance and also performs historically and culturally diverse repertoire ranging from Gregorian chant to gospel standards.
Afro-Cuban Folkloric Ensemble
Sam Werk, director
The Afro-Cuban Folkloric Ensemble explores this unique musical tradition still practiced today in Cuba. This African diaspora-based music and culture is a living example of how art can be a manifestation of the human desire to stay connected to one’s roots, ancestors, belief system, and home, even in the darkest of situations. Born of deep African origins, this form involves hand drumming, percussion, and singing.
University Wind Ensemble
Nicholas J. Carlson, director
The University Wind Ensemble (UWE) is an auditioned group of 50 to 60 instrumentalists with a diverse range of musical interests and experience. Presenting one concert per quarter, the UWE focuses on modern literature conceived specifically for the wind ensemble medium, providing its members the opportunity to perform music by such renowned wind composers as Malcolm Arnold, Percy Grainger, Gustav Holst, Frank Ticheli, and more. Periodically the ensemble programs transcriptions of orchestral masterpieces by J. S.
University Symphony Orchestra
Barbara Schubert, director
The 100-member University Symphony Orchestra presents an ambitious season of five major concerts per year. Widely known for its imaginative presentations of unusual repertoire as well as for its powerful performances of major symphonic literature, the University Symphony opens each season with a costumed Halloween concert—a family-friendly event enhanced by storytelling, dancing, and special effects—and generally closes the year with a celebratory year-end collaboration with the combined choirs.
University Chamber Orchestra
Giang Vo, director
The University Chamber Orchestra is a 30- to 40-member ensemble of strings, woodwinds, and horns specializing in Baroque, Classical, and 20th-century repertoire for smaller orchestra. The group presents three concerts each year, often pairing a major symphony by a Classical composer with an overture, suite, or concerto for similar forces.
South Asian Music Ensemble
Minu Pasupathi, director
Pramantha Tagore, co-director
The South Asian Music Ensemble (SAME) is a special repertory ensemble that explores a wide range of music with roots in South Asia (specifically, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and their diasporas), be they classical, popular, regional/local/vernacular, folk, primarily diasporic, or not so easily classifiable.
Piano Program
Lam Wong, director
Student pianists, both undergraduate and graduate, can enhance their musical skills and experience through master classes, quarterly Piano Showcase concerts, and numerous other opportunities offered by the Department of Music’s Piano Program. Students in the program receive regular coaching sessions with the Director of Piano Studies and opportunities to participate in master classes with visiting guest artists and local professional pianists.
Percussion Ensemble
John Corkill, director
The Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of John Corkill, consists of skilled undergraduate and graduate student percussionists who specialize in mallets, drums, mixed, and world percussion. Members of the Percussion Ensemble are regularly play with the University Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble, as needed.