About Us
The Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra (MHSO) is one of the largest musical groups on campus. The group's members reflect the diversity of the college's community, with musicians from the five colleges and the Pioneer Valley, in addition to students, faculty and staff from Mount Holyoke College. The students who perform in the Orchestra might be majors in Music or Biology, English or International Relations, philosophy or mathematics. They are drawn by the collective desire to be an active participant in creating great beauty in the realm of sound.
The orchestra’s repertoire reflects the broad spectrum of music written for orchestras since the 18th century. The orchestra has presented performances of new works by composers like Daniel Warner and William Russo. The great symphonic masterworks are also an important part of the Orchestra’s repertoire; recent performances include Prokofiev Classical Symphony, Mussorgsky Night on the Bald Mountain, Stravinsky The Firebird, Borodin Symphony No.2, Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre, Fauré Suite Bergamasque, Vaughan Williams English Folksong Suite, Mozart Overture to Don Giovanni, Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture, Respighi Ancient Airs and Dances, Liadov Russian Folk Songs, and the symphonies of Haydn and Beethoven.
In Fall 2011, the Orchestra will be led by their new music director, Tian Hui Ng. Since it was founded by Lisa Utsinger’01 and Sara Curtin ’02 in 2000, the orchestra has been been led by P. George Mathew (2000), David Gibson (2000-2001), Mark Bartley (2001-2005), Eric Benjamin (2006- 2010) and Ching-Chun Lai (2010-2011).
Join Us
Auditions are held during the first week of fall classes, and are open to all students from the Five-College Community.
Rehearsals are held in Pratt Hall on Tuesdays 7:15-9:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 4:30-6.00 p.m. The conductor of the orchestra is Tian Hui Ng, and student leadership is provided by the Orchestra Board Officers.