Ïã½¶´«Ã½'s Orchestras provide a broad range of performance experiences through various sizes and types of orchestral ensembles. Participation is open to all Pacific students by audition.

Students in the orchestra have opportunities to collaborate with Pacific Opera Theatre in fully-staged operas and musical theater productions. They play music from the Baroque through modern eras and from a diverse collection of composers. They perform major choral masterworks with Pacific Choirs as well as concerti with faculty and guest soloists and with students who are selected in the Conservatory Performance Competition.

Director of Pacific Orchestras

Orchestra Conductor Sebastián Serrano-Ayala

Sebastián Serrano-Ayala

BIO

Examples of Recent Repertoire

  • Symphony in A minor, op. 8 (1896) by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
  • Elegia andina (Andean elegy) (2000) by Gabriela Lena Frank
  • Gloria (1960) by Francis Poulenc
  • Symphony No. 1 in D Major (1888) by Gustav Mahler
  • Sinfonia (for Orbiting Spheres) (2014, 2016) by Missy Mazzoli
  • Symphony No. 8 in G Major, op. 88 (1889) by Antonín Dvořák
  • Symphony No. in E Minor (1931-32) by Florence Price
Kaylie Diggs, student soprano soloist
2023-24 Season Highlight
Poulenc's Gloria at Pacific

In April of 2024, University Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Choirs performed Francis Poulenc's "Gloria"—work scored for soprano solo, large orchestra and chorus. The soloist on this piece was one of the winners of the 2023-24 Performance Competition Kaylie Diggs '24, BM, Music Performance (pictured).