OU Philharmonia

OU Philharmonia was founded in the 1980s and ever since has been both run and conducted entirely by students. In recent years the orchestra has performed a wide range of repertoire, including Dvorak’s Symphony No.8, Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and Rachmaninov’s Piano concerto No.2, along with music such as Ligeti’s ‘Atmospheres’ and Holst’s ‘The Planets’. Each Hilary term, OUPhil includes a solo concerto as part of the concert programme. Auditions for the soloist take place in Michaelmas term, and past performances have been of an extremely high standard. A new conductor takes office in Trinity term, having auditioned in Hilary term and auditions for places in the orchestra are held by OUMS at the start of Michaelmas term. OUPhil has a highly friendly and sociable atmosphere, with regular socials after rehearsals!