Orchestras at Western

Ensembles

Western Symphony Orchestra

Dr. Ryan Dudenbostel, conductor

Performing orchestral masterworks from the Baroque to the present day, the Western Symphony Orchestra presents five to six programs a year, including traditional concerts, educational programs, operas and musicals, live-to-film movie performances, and an annual concerto competition concert featuring student soloists.

Committed to advancing the discourse on orchestral music, the WSO has given world, American, and Pacific Northwest premieres of works by John Williams, William Bolcom, Kaija Saariaho, Mason Bates, Missy Mazzoli, and Roger Briggs. The Orchestra frequently collaborates with faculty and guest artists, along with the Western Choirs and Opera Theatre.

Recent highlights include the unofficial US Premiere of John Williams' Prelude and Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra, featuring Grammy-winning pianist Gloria Cheng; the first live performance of the landmark Gil Evans/Miles Davis collaboration Sketches of Spain in the Pacific Northwest; conference appearances at the College Orchestra Directors Association and National Association for Music Education; a memorized, choreographed, and costumed production of Peter and the Wolf; and the second-ever performance of Bruce Ruddell’s The Healing Heart of the First People of This Land, commissioned by Upper Skagit elder Vi taqʷšəblu Hilbert.

Western String Sinfonia

Dr. James Ray, conductor

The Western String Sinfonia gives quarterly concerts of classic and contemporary works for string orchestra, with a focus on developing fundamental skills and ensemble technique. The String Sinfonia regularly joins forces with the Western Symphony Orchestra in the performance of large-scale orchestral works.

Join the WWU Orchestras!

Membership in the Western Orchestras is by audition, and is open to the entire Western campus community. For more information about the Orchestral Program at Western, please contact Dr. Ryan Dudenbostel, Director of Orchestral Studies.

2023-2024 Concert Dates and Repertoire

Western Symphony Orchestra

Friday, November 15, 2024 at 7:30 PM

  • Brent Michael Davids: Indigenous/Undigenous II
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music (with WWU Concert Choir)
  • William Grant Still: Symphony No. 4 (“Autochthonous”)

WWU String Sinfonia

Monday, December 2, 2024 at 7:30 PM

  • Repertoire TBD

Western Symphony Orchestra

Friday, February 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM

  • Anna Clyne: Masquerade
  • Jack Conklin: As I came to the edge of the woods… (Amara Farah, conductor)
  • Béla Bartók: Dance Suite

WWU String Sinfonia

Monday, March 10, 2025 at 7:30 PM

  • Repertoire TBD

WWU Symphony Orchestra

Friday, May 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM

  • Repertoire TBD

WWU String Sinfonia

Monday, June 2, 2025 at 7:30 PM

  • Repertoire TBD

WWU Symphony Orchestra

Friday, June 6, 2025 at 7:00 PM

  • WWU Concerto Competition Winners
  • Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor 

Past Repertoire

2023-2024

  • John Luther Adams: Become River
  • Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings (Combined WWU Orchestras)
  • Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
  • Roque Cordero: Mensaje Fúnebre (David Bissell, clarinet)
  • John Corigliano: Poem in October (Nehemiah Jones, tenor)
  • Charles Halka: Son of Scherzo (US Premiere)
  • G. F. Handel: Water Music (Selections)
  • Leoš Janáček: Idyla (Selections)
  • Chin-Cheng Lin: Marimba Concerto No. 1 (Lucas Webster, marimba)
  • Colin Marks: Disposition (WWU Composition Competition Winner)
  • Quinn Mason: Irish Dance Suite for String Orchestra
  • W. A. Mozart: Symphony No. 39, K. 543
  • Yukiko Nishimura: River Stories
  • Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson: “Song Form” from Sinfonietta No. 1 for Strings
  • Florence Price: Mississippi River
  • Giacomo Puccini: Crisantemi
  • Carl Reinecke: Tone Pictures (Selections)
  • Silvestre Revueltas: Sensemayá
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
  • Judith Shatin: Ruah (Mehrdad Gholami, flute)
  • Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate: Spirit Chief Names the Animal People
  • P.I. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 (Selections)
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams (arr. R. Greaves): Fantasia on Greensleeves (Mehrdad Gholami, flute)

2022-2023

  • Tomaso Albinoni: Sinfonia in G Major
  • J.S. Bach: Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3
  • Vivian Fung: Pizzicato
  • Alan Hovhaness: Psalm and Fugue, Op. 40a
  • Lars-Erik Larsson: Concertino for Trombone (Jared Johnson, Trombone)
  • Gustav Mahler: Rückert Lieder (Richard Hodges, baritone)
  • Christopher Morrison: Chasing Shadows (WWU Composition Competition Winner)
  • Carl Nielsen: Little Suite, Op. 1
  • Francis Poulenc: Concerto for Two Pianos (Amara Farah & Page Wiesinger, pianos)
  • Sergei Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
  • Maurice Ravel: Don Quichotte à Dulcinée (Jacob Lann, bass baritone)
  • Bruce Ruddell: The Healing Heart of the First People of this Land
  • Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major
  • Jean Sibelius: Romanze in C, Op. 42
  • Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 in E-flat Major
  • Joan Trimble: Suite for Strings
  • William Grant Still: Danzas de Panama
  • Kurt Weill: Street Scene
  • John Williams: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in Concert
  • Christopher Wilson: Suite for String Orchestra

2021-2022

  • Keiko Abe: Prism Rhapsody II (Tyler Bateman & Lucas Webster, marimba)
  • Samuel Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915 (Olivia Pedroza, soprano)
  • Marion Bauer: Symphonic Suite for Strings, Op. 33
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
  • Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront (Johnathon Lyons, conductor)
  • Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: String Quartet No. 3
  • Johannes Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major (Alex Amick, piano)
  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Novelletten Nos. 2 and 3
  • Arcangelo Corelli: Concerto Grosso in B-flat, Op. 6 No. 5 (Johnathon Lyons, conductor)
  • William Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony
  • Edward Elgar: Enigma Variations
  • Gerald Finzi: Five Bagatelles (David Bissell, clarinet)
  • Edvard Grieg: Two Elegiac Melodies, Op. 34
  • Charles T. Griffes: Poem for Flute and Orchestra (Adelle Koenig, flute)
  • Paul Hindemith: Fünf Stücke
  • Sum Yee Lee: Circulation (WWU Composition Competition Winner)
  • Felix Mendelssohn: Sinfonia No. 7 in D minor
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Eine kleine Nachtmusik
  • Nkeiru Okoye: Songs of Harriet Tubman (Ibidunni Ojikutu, soprano)
  • Francis Poulenc: Gloria (with WWU Choirs and Choir of the Salish Sea; Katie Van Kooten, soprano)
  • Florence Price: Andante moderato from String Quartet in G Major
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos: “Aria” from Bachianas Brasilieras No. 5
  • John Williams: Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra (Gloria Cheng, piano)

2020-2021

  • John Adams: Shaker Loops
  • Yasushi Atukagawa - Triptyque for String Orchestra
  • Béla Bartók - Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta
  • Benjamin Britten: Simple Symphony
  • Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Concert pour quatre parties de viole
  • Nathaniel Dett: Adagio cantabile from The Cinnamon Grove
  • George Whitfield Chadwick: Serenade in F Major
  • Philip Glass: Company
  • Adolphus Hailstork: Sonata da chiesa
  • Norman Leyden: Serenade for Strings
  • Gustav Mahler: Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 in C# minor
  • William Grant Still: Ennanga
  • William Grant Still: Mother and Child
  • Toru Takemitsu: Three Film Scores
  • Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate: Chokfi’
  • Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Prologue and Variations

2019-2020

  • J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3
  • Aaron Copland: The Promise of Living
  • Miles Davis/Gil Evans: Sketches of Spain (Kevin Woods, trumpet)
  • Claude Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
  • Manuel de Falla: Three Songs from El amor Brujo (Melissa Plagemann, mezzo-soprano)
  • Edvard Grieg: Suite from Holberg’s Time
  • Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 4 in G Major (Heather Dudenbostel, soprano)
  • Jessie Montgomery: Strum
  • Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto di Aranjuez (David Feingold, guitar)
  • Sarah Kirkland Snyder: Something for the Dark
  • P. I. Tchaikovsky: Francesca di Rimini
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams: Concerto Grosso
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasilieras No. 9
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos: Cavatina

2018-2019

  • J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067 (Lisa McCarthy, flute)
  • Bela Bartó​k: Rumanian Dances
  • Benjamin Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings (Eric Rieger, tenor - Gustavo Camacho, horn)
  • Edward Elgar: Serenade in E minor, Op. 20
  • George Gershwin: An American in Paris
  • Judd Greenstein: Reservoir (West Coast Premiere)
  • Joseph Haydn: Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major (Cori Holquinn, cello)
  • Robert Jager: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra (David Mills and Asa Morris, percussion)
  • Gustav Mahler: Songs of a Wayfarer (Elizabeth Feeney, mezzo-soprano)
  • Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea
  • W.A. Mozart: Adagio and Fugue in C minor, K. 546
  • W.A. Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K. 626
  • Henry Purcell: Suite from The Fairy Queen, Z. 629
  • Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major (Jacinda Davis, piano)
  • Ottorino Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3
  • John Rutter: Suite for Strings
  • Caroline Shaw: Entr’acte
  • Dimitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 54
  • Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 Version)
  • P. I. Tchaikovsky: Waltz and Grand Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
  • George Walker: Lyric for Strings

2017-2018

  • Bernstein: Symphony No. 2 - The Age of Anxiety (Judith Widrig, piano)
  • Bolcom: Symphony No. 2 (“Oracles”) - WORLD PREMIERE
  • ​Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn, Op. 56
  • Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
  • ​Debussy: La mer
  • Duparc: Three Songs (Jacob Bernado, tenor)
  • Edwards/Stone: 1776​
  • ​Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F (Sarah Potocki, piano)
  • Haydn: Symphony No. 103 in E-flat Major (“Drumroll”)
  • Márquez: Danzón No. 2
  • Mazzoli: Holy Roller
  • Ravel: Ma mère l’​Oye Suite
  • Stamitz: Clarinet Concerto No. 7 in E-flat Major (Wayra Quinchiguango, clarinet)

2016-2017

  • Adams: Century Rolls (Gloria Cheng, piano)
  • Bartók: Viola Concerto, op. posth. (Antti Niemistö, viola)
  • Corigliano: Fern Hill (with the WWU Concert Choir)
  • Duddell: Ruby (Patrick Roulet, percussion)
  • Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“From the New World”)
  • Hindemith: Mathis der Maler Symphony
  • Janáček: Suite for Strings
  • ​Kernis: Musica Celestis
  • ​Navarro: Clarinet Concerto No. 2 (Fabian Nieto, clarinet)
  • Porter: Kiss Me, Kate
  • Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 54 (Nicholas Swanson, piano)
  • Stravinsky: The Firebird (1919 Suite)
  • Tchaikovsky: Suite from The Nutcracker​
  • Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

2015-2016

  • Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major
  • Bartók: Dance Suite
  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major
  • Berlioz: Rakoczy March
  • Briggs: Concerto for String Quartet (World-Premiere, featuring the Friction Quartet)
  • Gottschalk: The Banjo
  • ​Körvitz: Kreegi Vihik (featuring the combined WWU Choirs)
  • Mahler: Selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (Hannah Petersen, mezzo-soprano)
  • ​Messiaen: Oiseaux exotiques (Judith Widrig, piano)
  • Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf (Narrated by Rosemary Vohs and Choreographed by Pam Kuntz)
  • Ravel: Piano Concerto in G (Ben Seavello, piano)
  • Saariaho: Lumiére et pesanteur
  • Shostakovich: Violin Concerto in A minor (Ian Aegerter, violin)
  • Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 in E minor
  • Still: Afro-American Symphony
  • ​Stucky: The Star and the Roses
  • Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy

2014-2015

  • Bates: Music from Underground Spaces
  • Beethoven: Symphony No. 2
  • Bernstein: Chichester Psalms (WWU Concert Choir)
  • Brahms: Academic Festival Overture
  • Briggs: For the Future (World-Premiere, with the WWU Concert Choir)
  • Copland: Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo
  • Debussy: Nocturnes (with the WWU Advanced Women’s Chorale)
  • ​Dvořák: The Noon Witch
  • Dukas: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
  • Gershwin: Cuban Overture
  • Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King
  • Mozart: Symphony no. 41 (“Jupiter”)
  • Prokofiev: Piano Concerto no. 3 (Milica Jelača Jovanović, piano)
  • Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no. 4 (Gabija Vaičekonis, piano)
  • Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 (John Friesen, cello)
  • Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre
  • Séjourné: Vibraphone Concerto (George Allison, vibraphone)
  • Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
  • Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 (Gustavo Camacho, horn)
  • Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
  • Tchaikovsky: Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin (Yuliya Varavina, soprano)

Looking for more information?

If you have any questions, we're happy to find you an answer. Call the Music Department Office 360-650-3130, or view the directory of faculty and staff.