Little can match the exhilaration, satisfaction and complete joy of participating with colleagues in a stellar ensemble performance - which is why DePaul offers so many outstanding opportunities to make music in an ensemble setting. Concert venues, both on campus and off, open student performances to appreciative audiences citywide, so the ensemble experience can be shared.
In addition, students will have the opportunity to perform in and attend concerts in Chicago. Just beyond the campus gates, the city’s world-renowned musical institutions perform extraordinary programs and our students are always encouraged to participate. As one of the most sophisticated urban music centers in the world, Chicago gives our students an electrifying atmosphere in which to create and share their music.
DePaul Symphony Orchestra
Cliff Colnot, conductor
Contributing to Chicago’s rich and cultural landscape, the DePaul Symphony Orchestra rehearses and performs in the DePaul Concert Hall on the Lincoln Park campus and in Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Conducted by Cliff Colnot, Director of Orchestral Activities, conductor for Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series and resident Conductor of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the DePaul Symphony Orchestra focuses on a thorough and serious study of the core orchestral repertoire. Students receive regular coaching by members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera orchestra and DePaul’s pre-eminent string and wind faculties. Professionalism and orchestral fundamentals are prioritized. Rehearsals are three times a week for two hours. Concerts take place four times per year. Each season culminates with a nearly sold-out, spring concert at Orchestra Hall.
Membership in the Symphony Orchestra is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
DePaul Chamber Orchestra
Michael Lewanski, conductor
The DePaul Chamber Orchestra is designed to instill, first and foremost, a devotion to relentlessly excellent musicianship in all of its members. The ensemble involves the serious, in-depth study of a wide range of repertoire, standard and non-, from the 18th to the 21st Century. All students are expected to develop and maintain high-level musical and professional standards. Fundamentals skills of orchestral playing, transferable to any large ensemble setting, are also taught and emphasized.
Established in 2001 as a small string ensemble, it has expanded to include woodwinds, brass and percussion. It presents five concerts a year.
Membership in the Chamber Orchestra is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
DePaul Wind Ensemble
Cliff Colnot and michael lewanski, conductors
The DePaul Wind Ensemble consists of thirty student musicians who perform repertoire of the highest quality by outstanding composers. Instrumentation is flexible and, depending upon the needs of a piece, may vary from eight to twenty musicians. The Wind Ensemble's repertoire has been selected to showcase a wide range of works - from 18th century octets to contemporary pieces. Professionalism and the development of instrumental skills are always emphasized, as these crucial elements of musicianship are necessary for students to enter the world of professional performance.
Membership in DePaul Wind Ensemble is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
DePaul Wind Symphony
Erica Neidlinger, conductor
Conducted by Erica Neidlinger, DePaul Wind Symphony consists of 55-60 outstanding wind players who perform a repertoire chosen from a variety of historical periods and for ensembles of various sizes. While this group occasionally presents pieces composed for smaller groups, much of its time is spent in the study and performance of works from the standard symphonic band repertoire. As with every ensemble group at DePaul, professionalism in performance quality and attitude is always emphasized.
Membership in DePaul Wind Symphony is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
Ensemble 20+
michael lewanski, conductor
Ensemble 20+, celebrating its inaugural season in the 2009-10 academic year, will focus on living composers' music and 20th century masterpieces; hence the name “20+”. Comprised of 8-25 string, woodwind, brass, keyboard, and percussion players, this new group will rehearse, perform, and study works from Stravinsky up to the present day. Works by student composers will also be played and given workshops.
Not just an average college contemporary music group, Ensemble 20+ seeks to teach a set of professional skills particularly addressing new music, as well as an understanding of and engagement with a wide range of 20th and 21st century compositional styles. It intends to foster a sense of mutual respect among performers, composers, and audience members and to contribute to building a positive and creatively vital musical community.
Membership in Ensemble 20+ is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
University Singers
Clayton Parr, conductor
paul nicholson, accompanist
University Singers, DePaul’s most select choral ensemble, is a 50-voice ensemble, dedicated to the rehearsal and performance of challenging choral literature of all historical periods in a variety of languages. Conducted by Clayton Parr, the group meets three times a week and performs frequently both on and off campus. Recent notable performances have included Handel’s Messiah, Brahms and Fauré Requiems and Bach Cantata #4, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Honegger’s King David.
Membership in University Singers is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
Concert Choir
Clayton Parr, conductor
maureen zoltek, accompanist
Whether performing with full orchestra or in a more intimate a cappella program, DePaul’s Concert Choir, conducted by Clayton Parr and Lisa Kristina, is noted for the ability to fill a hall with unsurpassed richness of harmony. Dedicated to developing singers’ skills to the maximum potential, Concert Choir performs a wide variety of musical styles from the classics to spirituals and folk and world music. Performances are once or twice a quarter and often include combined performances with other choirs or the orchestra.
Membership in Concert Choir is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
DePaul Opera Theatre
Harry Silverstein, director
Always a venue for exceptional talent, DePaul Opera Theatre produces three full-length operas each year. Repertoire has included Carmen, La Bohème, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Candide and the U.S. premiere of an opera by Philip Glass. In years past, musical theater productions have been produced, directed, conducted, and performed annually by students with faculty supervision. Productions have included Into the Woods, The Fantasticks, Sweeney Todd, and Little Women.
Graduates of DePaul Opera Theatre are currently performing with such opera companies as the Metropolitan, Chicago Lyric, Berlin, Vienna, Zurich, Houston, Dallas, and Santa Fe. The opera program is led by Harry Silverstein, who has directed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, and English National Operas and for companies in Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and The Netherlands
Membership in DePaul Opera Theatre is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
DePaul Jazz Ensemble
Bob Lark, director
The Jazz Ensemble is one of thirteen student jazz groups at DePaul University, performing several times throughout the academic year both on and off campus. The band performs regularly at Chicago’s premier jazz club, Joe and Wayne Segal’s Jazz Showcase. Directed by Bob Lark the Jazz Ensemble has appeared at the Midwest Clinic, the International Association for Jazz Education Conference, the Duke Ellington International Conference, the National Association of Music Merchants Conference, the Jazz Party At Sea aboard the S.S. Norwegian Sun, twice aboard the Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner for their Annual Floating Jazz Festival, and a concert tour of Italy.
An annual recording project by the Jazz Ensemble featuring student, faculty, and commissioned works occurs each spring. These recordings have produced a number of awards from the Jazz Educator’s Journal, DownBeat, and JazzTimes magazines. The Jazz Ensemble has recorded a number of CD’s with legendary jazz artists, including Phil Woods, Clark Terry, Bob Brookmeyer, Jim McNeely, Tom Harrell, Louie Bellson, Frank Wess, and Bobby Shew, as well as Chicago Symphony Orchestra members Charles Vernon and John Bruce Yeh.
Membership in the DePaul Jazz Ensemble is open to all DePaul students, subject to audition.
Chamber Music
Chamber Music at DePaul is significant part of every student’s education and is a requirement for performance majors. The Chamber Music program is varied and extensive. During any given quarter there might be 20 or more small ensembles rehearsing and being coached by faculty. Each group gives a performance at the end of each quarter. Various chamber groups include small wind, strings, mixed, woodwind and brass groups in addition to the possibility of a flute choir, clarinet choir, horn ensemble or trombone ensemble. DePaul A Cappella and Percussion Ensemble are two chamber groups that are available every quarter.
DePaul A Cappella
Created in 2003, DePaul A Cappella has been dedicated to excellence in performance of chamber choral works from the Renaissance to the present day, as well as authentic and passionate performance of folk-influenced music from around the world. One of the group’s main goals is the development of student leadership within the ensemble, usually performing without a conductor. In 2007, DAC won prizes in four categories at the International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales, placing second in the Chamber Choir, Folk Song Choir and Youth Choir categories, and third in Folk Song Groups. The group has also performed at the International Advent Choral Festival at the Rathaus in Vienna, for the Latino Symphonic Festival and the College Music Society. In 2008, the group will appear at the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Convention for a performance and interest session on music from the Republic of Georgia.
Percussion Ensemble
The Percussion Ensemble consists of 15-18 percussion majors who perform a large variety of music expressly written for percussion. The ensemble is dedicated to performing a balance of historically important works and the latest contemporary works. The ensemble performs a fall, winter, and spring concert as well as performances at student recitals and clinics, including the 2003 Yamaha Orchestral Percussion Seminar. Performances include a mix of works written for the small chamber group to the large percussion orchestra. The ensemble has had the opportunity to perform with a number of guests artists including Brett Dietz, Eric Millstein and Michael Burritt. Check out DePaul Percussion Ensemble on YouTube.
