The Cavalier Symphony Orchestra, the University’s only student-run symphony orchestra, gives student musicians an opportunity to perform both classical and contemporary instrumental music in a supportive college ensemble. This semester’s CSO concert takes its audience on “The Wanderer’s Tale” — a hero’s journey narrated through a number of orchestral pieces.
The journey will open with Jean Sibelius’ tone poem, a single-movement orchestral composition designed to illustrate a specific story, “Finlandia” before moving through selections from Johannes Brahms, Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and the score of the Japanese film “Kiki’s Delivery Service.”
CSO is a Contracted Independent Organization, meaning everything from conducting pieces to organizing concerts is done solely by students. The main orchestra practices classical and contemporary repertoire and is CSO’s largest group with around 100 members. Its philharmonic orchestra is a smaller ensemble of about 25 CSO musicians who elect to practice for an extra hour each week to perform additional songs during their concerts at the end of each semester.
CSO offers student musicians a more relaxed alternative to music department-affiliated ensembles like the Charlottesville Symphony, and neither of the main orchestras require an audition to join. The group rehearses for three hours every Sunday to prepare for their semesterly concerts, which showcase classical music but also incorporate storytelling elements that appeal to broader audiences.
Virginia Lee, CSO co-president and third-year College student, plays cello in both the main and philharmonic orchestras. She says she appreciates how CSO brings classical music to a wide audience.
“This is an art that's made for the people,” Lee said. “I think it's something that should be accessible to people and enjoyable.”
Angela Yu, CSO co-president and fourth-year College student, said the orchestra chooses its concert music through a democratic process where members are able to suggest pieces to play for the group to discuss and vote on. CSO members pick pieces before devising a theme for their semester concert that ties the collection together. Autumn Hong, principal conductor and third-year College student, said this system gives the musicians the freedom to play a wider variety of genres than they might in a traditional orchestra.
“I'm honestly just really impressed with our range,” Hong said. “A lot of orchestras are pretty strict with doing classical or romantic music, so I really love how many things we can pull from.”
CSO’s democratic music selection process gave Hong the opportunity to conduct her dream piece, “Test Drive,” from the score of the 2010 animated movie “How to Train Your Dragon.”
“It's the scene where they learn how to fly, and that's the only thing I could explain it as. It just felt like flying,” Hong said.
Lee explained that CSO typically gravitates towards lively songs that allow audiences to capture the spirit of the group, such as selections from Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” and Arturo Márquez’s “Danzón No. 2.”
As principal conductor, Hong manages the logistics of student conducting for the orchestra, creating the student conductor schedule for rehearsals and performances. At this semester’s concert, she will conduct two excerpts from “Pictures at an Exhibition” — “The Hut on Fowl’s Legs” and “The Great Gate of Kiev.”
According to Hong, successful conducting takes more than waving a baton. She explains how she considers the history and music theory of the pieces she conducts, taking time to dive deep into the score.
“It's really all about communication,” Hong said. “It's a lot about feeling the emotions and then imparting them onto your musicians, who will then impart it onto the audience.”
Outside of its two main orchestras, CSO runs a chamber music program where members form groups based on interest and independently select their practice times, gigs and repertoire. The chamber program takes CSO into the greater Charlottesville community, giving student musicians an avenue to share their talents through gig opportunities in the community.
Lee served as Chamber Director from 2023-2024, rebuilding the program — which took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic — from one chamber group to eight. Lee’s chamber group played at a wedding at Montfair Resort Farm and provided string accompaniment for an immersive opera by composer Nathan Felix at the Fralin Museum of Art.
When they are not playing music together, CSO members host social events like a murder mystery event and an end-of-year banquet to commemorate the achievements of the group and celebrate their music community.
“We'll have a big dinner, we'll have a little PowerPoint slide show of all the fun things we did that year,” Lee said. “We'll do paper plate awards, and we nominate people for fun little superlatives like ‘CSO mom.’”
“The Wanderer’s Tale” CSO Spring concert performs Sunday at 3 p.m. at the MLK Jr. Performing Arts Center. Tickets are free for University students with a pay-what-you-can donation option to benefit the newly created CSO Scholarship, which the orchestra will donate to help local high school musicians afford instruments and private lessons.
According to Lee, one of the biggest barriers to young musicians is the ability to afford quality instruments and well-resourced music programs. CSO hopes to reduce these barriers through its Scholarship Fund by providing local music programs with the necessary financial resources to empower and support their students.
“It's a by the students, for the students type of club,” Lee said. “At the end of the day, we're all college students, and we love music, and we want to bring that love of music out — not only how we play, but also in this spirit of CSO.”
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