The UCD Symphony Orchestra was founded in 2002. It has developed into the flagship instrumental ensemble of University College Dublin, with a membership of around 90 players. It offers student scholarships and can be taken for academic credit irrespective of degree programme - traditionally there has been a large cohort of medical and engineering students in the orchestra. Sectional tuition is provided by principals from Dublin's two full-time professional orchestras, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. The orchestra has engaged in numerous joint projects with university orchestras outside Dublin, the first European destination being Mannheim, Germany in 2013. Connections made via our friends in the European Network of University Orchestras have led to further collaborations with orchestras from Uppsala in Sweden, Leuven in Belgium, and Strasbourg in France, as well as participation in the 2017 edition of European Student Orchestra Festival.
The UCDSO’s repertoire centres on mainstream concert works from the 19th and 20th centuries – major symphonic symphonic repertoire performed has included symphonies by Beethoven (5, 7, 9), Shostakovich (5, 10) and Tchaikovsky (4, 5, 6). Since 2005, the orchestra has appeared annually at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. These concerts often involve the UCD Philharmonic Choir, most recently in performances of Brahms’s Deutsches Requiem and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances. A wider audience has been cultivated by a number of themed concert series, such as family concerts, a "Night at the Movies" series, and concert performances with live bands, including the world-renowned tribute act the Bootleg Beatles.
In October 2019, we joined forces for a second time with the Bootleg Beatles for an acclaimed performance to commemorate the release of the iconic Abbey Road album (review in the national music journal Hot Press can be read (opens in a new window)here). We gave our final public performance before the national lockdown in February 2020, closing the 25th IAYO Festival of Youth Orchestras at the NCH.
The orchestra celebrated its 20th anniversary in the 2022-23 season, with events including a fourth edition of A Night at the Movies performed to a sell-out crowd at the National Concert Hall. In 2023–24, the orchestra worked with Guest Artistic Director Amy Ryan in two major performances, returning to the NCH in April 2024.
The added bonus is the UCD Symphony Orchestra conducted by the expert hand of Professor Ciarán Crilly, the artistic director of the Orchestra since its foundation. Having been fortunate enough to see them expand (opens in a new window)Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band into a breath-taking 50th anniversary celebration last year, that record brought to live in technicolour 3-D, I expected something special tonight, and I wasn’t to be disappointed.
Hot Press, October 2019