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Ensembles

Baylor Symphony

The Baylor Symphony rehearses on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:15-12:35.

The Baylor Symphony has an extensive performance schedule on and off campus, annually presenting four concerts of standard orchestral repertoire, a full opera production, and other events such as concerto accompaniments, new music readings and choral/orchestral collaborations. The orchestra also presents a series of children's concerts each year to an audience of over 6000 Waco area school children, an unbroken tradition since 1946.

Baylor Campus Orchestra

The Baylor Campus Orchestra rehearses on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30-1:45.

The Baylor Campus Orchestra, is designed to operate with a less active schedule and to provide an orchestral experience for those students whose schedules will not permit them to commit to the rigorous time demands of the Baylor Symphony, or who lack the experience necessary to prepare music at the accelerated pace required by the Baylor Symphony. The predecessor of the Campus Orchestra, the Baylor Concert Orchestra, was begun in 1994. The Campus Orchestra presents two to four performances on campus each semester, and is under the direction of Dr. Michael Alexander, Associate Professor of String Education.

History

The late Daniel Sternberg, former Dean of the School of Music, initiated the Baylor Symphony in 1944 with Governor Pat Neff, President of Baylor University, in preparation for the commemoration of the Centenary Anniversary of the University planned for the following year. The first concert of the new orchestra began with The Centennial Overture, a new work composed by Sternberg which later was performed by the Dallas Symphony after winning a contest for new music sponsored by that orchestra. Daniel Sternberg continued to conduct the Baylor Symphony until his retirement from the School of Music in 1982. Since 1984, the Baylor Symphony has been under the direction of Stephen Heyde, the Mary Franks Thompson Professor of Orchestral Activities and Conductor-in-Residence at Baylor University.