THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Conducted by Dr. Clifton Evans, the UTA Symphony Orchestra presents a season of concerts consisting of major works from the standard orchestral repertoire.  Through the performance of these works, students are exposed to different musical styles while acquiring the orchestral skills necessary to develop their professional careers. Indeed, during the season, a number of the UTA Symphony members successfully auditioned or substituted with important area orchestras such as the Fort Worth Symphony, the New Arlington/Las Colinas Symphony, the San Angelo Symphony, the Irving Symphony, the Texas Chamber Orchestra, and the East Texas Symphony, as well as important Summer Festivals such as the Hot Springs Music Festival in Arkansas, the Blossom Music Festival in Ohio, and the Texas Music Festival in Houston. The orchestra is open to any student at the University who qualifies by audition, including both music and non-music majors.  Merit-based scholarships are made available to UTA Symphony members based on their audition.  

The UTASO also hosts an annual Concerto Competition. In this event, UTA students compete to play as soloists accompanied by the UTASO. Winners in recent years have performed the following works:

• Mark Smith (saxophone) E. Ibert, Concertino da camera

• Charles Praytor (piano) E. Grieg, Piano Concerto

• Kelley Arney (violin) H. Wieniawski, Concerto for violin, no. 2, op. 22

• Nate Schocker (piano) S. Prokofiev, Piano Concerto no. 1, op. 10

• Suré Eloff (soprano) with R. Strauss, Zeignung op. 10, no. 1 and Allerseelen op. 10, no. 8

• Hashem Assasallahi (saxophone) A. Glazunov, Concerto for Saxophone Alto op. 109

• Courtney Keeper (violin) C. Saint-Saens, Violin Concerto no. 3

• Amela Koci (violin) Samuel Barber violin concerto

• Minerva Hernandez (trumpet) J. Neruda Trumpet Concerto

• James Davis (trumpet) J.Haydn Trumpet Concerto