Skule Orchestra

Pops - We opened the year with our annual Fall term concert Pops. This year, Skule Orchestra performed well-known selections from musicals such as West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof. This was complemented with a wide variety of classical pieces representing a diverse range of composers, including Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s African Dance and Gustav Holst’s Japanese suite. We were pleased to have an increased number of people in the audience compared to last year, demonstrating our ability to draw in friends, family, and members of the community to enjoy music together.

Chamber Night - In February we presented our Chamber Night concert, hosted at Hart House for an audience of approximately 50 people. Musicians from our orchestra and the broader U of T community formed small ensembles, playing in groups ranging from duets to octets. This provided our musicians the opportunity to play pieces that they normally wouldn’t in the larger orchestra and to seek out other musicians outside of Skule Orchestra to connect with. Chamber Night was a successful evening that was well-enjoyed by all.

Boom - Our final concert of the year was Boom, focusing more heavily on classical repertoire. These included crowd-pleasing selections from the Magic Flute and Die Fledermaus. The orchestra also rose to the challenge of rehearsing and performing all of Dvorak’s Eighth Symphony. We had the opportunity this year to play with a piano soloist, another new experience for many of the musicians in the orchestra. Attendance was improved compared to our last Boom concert, and the orchestra’s musicians were happy to have the opportunity to show their hard work to a receptive audience.