How We Make Music

The UCD Symphony Orchestra is the college's own orchestra, made up of 70-80 students. They play two concerts each year, the second being in the National Concert Hall. Soloists playing with the orchestra have included the violinists Cora Venus Lunny, Gillian Williams and Elizabeth Cooney, harpist Teresa O'Donnell, pianists Philip Martin, Michael McHale and Mary McCague, guitarist Redmond O'Toole and mezzo-soprano Norah King. They've just finished a documentary about the experience, so watch if you're interested! (Also if you're not, still have a look at Danny the drummer's shirt in the first few seconds, it's pretty classic.)

You must audition to get a place in the orchestra. This will involve a bit of sightreading and a chance to play a piece of your choice. Don't worry about it though. Ciaran, the conductor, is absolutely lovely and will put you at ease. I definitely messed up some of my sightreading too, and it wasn't an issue.



They rehearse weekly and you can take orchestra for academic credit. If you choose to that counts as your elective for the semester. You're graded on 50% attendance and the rest on performance and the final concert. You can also try for a scholarship, as I've listed below.

All work and no play make musicians dull too, and the socials that go along with the orchestra are fantastic. Trips to the student bar after rehearsals, nights out, and of course major celebrations after each concert all will improve your UCD experience. Their choice of music isn't all serious either. This semester they played film music for their first gig, set to a video background.

The second video was made by one of the horn players and ends with the concert in the National Concert Hall. I make a bit of an appearance at the end!