RIT Philharmonic Orchestra
RIT Philharmonic Orchestra
During the academic year, members of the RIT Philharmonic Orchestra study the various theoretical, historical and technical facets of the musical arts through rehearsing and performing music of canonical masterworks from the Western art music tradition of various musical periods, styles and genres, as well as film scores, music from video games and other contemporary compositions, resulting in performances and presentations to the RIT community and general public.
Music performances and music studies have long been an important component of what is considered a solid foundation for the educate individual. In this tradition, the RIT Philharmonic Orchestra’s mission is to develop the skills and knowledge of our musicians via a hands-on approach and thus enhance the life of our community and the communities into which RIT graduates enter. The connections and collaborations between RIT and local professional musicians complement and elevate the artistic achievements of the diverse nature that RIT students represent.
Performances
Mid-Week Beethoven - Spring 2022
A series of four short concerts in Allen Chapel on Wednesday afternoons, 5:30-6:15. Each concert will be preceded by a brief discussion on Beethoven’s life and music by Dr. Michael Ruhling and students from the Beethoven’s World and Music course, beginning at 5:10. We cordially invite all RIT faculty and staff to stick around after work these days to enjoy this great music and the educational activities of our students.
PLEASE NOTE: The location of the Wednesday, March 2 performance has moved to the Al Davis Room (SAU cafeteria) and the concert time adjusted to 5:15pm. There will be no pre-concert presentation for this concert.
2020 saw the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of history’s most influential artists. Covid restrictions on live performance protocols did not allow for a proper celebration of Beethoven, so we are taking the opportunity to explore his music and culture this semester through this series of presentations and performances.
Concert 1: Vienna meets Beethoven
Wednesday, February 9, 5:30, Allen Chapel of the Schmitt Interfaith Center
Haydn, “Representation of Chaos” from The Creation (1796)
Mozart, Serenade in E-flat for Eight Winds, K. 375 (1782), 2. Menuetto and 3. Adagio
Beethoven, Symphony No. 1 in C, Op. 21 (1800), 3. Menuetto and 4. Finale. Adagio—Allegro molto e vivace
5:10 presentation: “. . . where you will receive the spirit of Mozart from Haydn’s hands.”
Concert 2: Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony
Wednesday, March 2, 5:15, Al Davis Room (SAU Cafeteria)
Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 in F, Op. 68 “Pastoral” (1808)
There will be no pre-concert presentation for this concert.
Concert 3: Music for Goethe’s Egmont
Wednesday, March 30, 5:30, Allen Chapel of the Schmitt Interfaith Center
Beethoven, Overture and Incidental Music to Goethe’s Egmont, Op. 84 (1810)
Featuring Prof. Amy Cochrane, Clärchen (soprano), and Prof. Andy Head, narrator/Egmont.
5:10 presentation: Beethoven and women, real and fictional.
Concert 4: Vienna, 1822
Wednesday, April 20, 5:30, Allen Chapel of the Schmitt Interfaith Center
Beethoven, Consecration of the House Overture, Op. 124 (1822)
Schubert, Symphony No. 8 in B minor “Unfinished” (1822)
5:10 presentation: Receiving the baton and passing the torch.
Quick Facts
- 50-75 members: RIT students, faculty, staff, and Rochester community musicians, by audition
- RITPO students frequently among RIT Outstanding Undergraduate Scholars
- Nearly every RIT college represented
- Perform four to eight concerts per year, on campus and at a number of beautiful venues in the Rochester area
- Standard orchestral repertoire from ca. 1600 to the present, including world première and modern première performances
- Performances with some of the Rochester area's finest soloists, and other area ensembles
- Began in 1981
Auditions
Spring 2022 Auditions
If you are interested in auditioning for the RIT Philharmonic Orchestra, please contact Dr. Ruhling (mergsl@rit.edu) as soon as possible. Auditions will be held the first week of classes, with new members asked to audition Jan. 10.
The plan for next semester is to study the music of Beethoven, among a few others. We will be working with a course I am teaching on Beethoven (PRFL 490-04 Special Topics: Beethoven’s World and Music; consider registering for it if it interests you) in presenting four short concerts on Wednesday evenings during the scheduled rehearsal time in Allen Chapel. Each concert will be preceded by a 10- to 15-minute presentation on a topic apropos to the repertoire, given by me or students from the Beethoven class. The concert schedule with tentative repertoire is as follows:
February 9: Beethoven’s predecessors, incl. works by Haydn and Mozart
March 2: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral”
March 30: Beethoven’s Overture and Incidental Music to Goethe’s Egmont, featuring Prof. Amy Cochrane, soprano, and Prof. of Theater Andy Head
April 20: Vienna, 1822. Rossini’s Overture to The Thieving Magpie (possible), Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8, Beethoven’s Consecration of the House Overture.
Rehearsals will take place in the rehearsal room A130 of the SAU, with dress rehearsals (Sitzproben) the Mondays before each of the concerts taking place in Allen Chapel. The first week of class—Jan. 10 and 12—we will hold auditions. Jan. 10 will begin with a meeting for everyone, followed by auditions for new people (those not participating the first semester) and strings. Jan. 12 will be auditions for winds, brass, percussion, and any strings we could not fit in Monday night. Other audition times will be made by appointment, in my office (LBR 1110). I will give out registration codes at your auditions. Then first full rehearsal will be Wednesday, January 19.
The auditions will be excerpts from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 and the Overture to Egmont, so please learn these over the break. Here are links to the parts on IMSLP— Symphony No. 6
Egmont Overture
Find your part and click the arrow to the left to go to a downloadable pdf. You’ll have to wait a few (15) seconds for the advertisement to be able to get to the pdf.
I’m looking forward to working with you on this interesting repertoire. Beethoven’s 250th birthday was Dec. 16, 2021, but Covid did not allow too many Beethoven performances then. So we’ll make this spring a celebration.
And, again, there are still seats available in the Beethoven class next semester (PRFL 490-04, meets TTh 9:30-10:45), so if you are interested in learning more about this giant composer, consider registering for the course. A description follows this email. I look forward to seeing you January 10.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ruhling
Rehearsal Information
The RIT Philharmonic Orchestra regularly rehearses Mondays and Wednesdays 5:00pm-6:15pm in the SAU Music Room (SAU A130). This is located in the basement of the SAU, down the hall from RITz Sports Zone, across from the backstage doors of Ingle Auditorium.
Please note: students may enroll for 1-credit or participate without enrolling for credit. In addition, when enrolling for credit, students are able to have individual lessons as part of this tuition. Please contact the Director for more information.
Director
A passion for symphonic, operatic, choral-orchestral, and contemporary repertoire
Praised as being “extremely musical” and “having the gift to keep the orchestra tight with her hands”, Taiwan native Yunn-Shan Ma is active as a conductor, pianist and educator in both America and Asia. Her range of conducting experience bridges the gap between professional, semi-professional, and student ensembles. Ma moved to the United States in 2011 with a full scholarship and recently earned her doctoral degree in conducting at the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of William Weiner and Neil Varon.
With a passion for symphonic, operatic, choral-orchestral and contemporary repertoire, Ma has been selected over the years to participate in competitions and master classes mentored by Helmuth Rilling, Mark Gibson, Donald Hunsberger, Johannes Schlaefli, Robert Page, Joseph Flummerfelt, Maurice Peress, and Donald Portney. She has conducted select performances with Cadaques Orchestra in Spain, North Czech Orchestra in Teplice, Genesee Symphony Orchestra, Greater Rochester Women’s Philharmonic, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic Chorus, Taipei Chamber Singers, Eastman-Rochester Chorus, Eastman Chorale, and Eastman’s New Music Ensemble, OSSIA. In July 2013 she was selected as one of five finalists to guest-conduct the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2015 she premiered Britten’s cantata Phaedra for mezzo-soprano solo and orchestra at Eastman Kilbourn Hall in February and guest conducted the Syracuse Vocal Ensemble in March. In summer 2015 she was invited to hold a workshop for the ensemble of Ying-Hua College from Hong Kong on their tour visit at Eastman School of Music. She guest-conducted the Chin-Yun Choir and Taipei Civic Orchestra at the National Concert Hall in Taipei in July 2016 and the Monroe All-County Senior High School Orchestra at Kodak Hall, Eastman School of Music, in March 2018. She has been on the faculty of the Taipei International Choral Festival since 2015.
In addition to being an active conductor, pianist, and singer, Ma has devoted to musical education. She has frequently served as a guest clinician as well as an adjudicator for competitions and festivals. As the 2005 winner of the Taipei Municipal Joint Teacher Search Auditions from more than 250 candidates, she was appointed a full-time music instructor at Taipei Municipal Zhong-Zheng Junior High School and served on the jury committee in 2006. Ma has been invited to give lectures on conducting and music appreciation at Shi-Hsin and Cheng-Chi universities. Besides, she is a co-author for the cross-curriculum teaching manual, “Music and the Ocean”, published by the Taiwan Ministry of Education in 2011.
Ma received her early musical training in piano and violin at the age of five. At the age of eleven, she moved to Vienna with her family and won the audition to study piano and violin at the pre-college of the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. After returning to Taiwan, she received a bachelor’s degree in piano performance with minors in violin and vocal performances, as well as a master’s degree in conducting from National Taiwan Normal University.
During her doctoral study at the Eastman School of Music, Ma assisted Eastman Opera, served as an assistant conductor of the choral ensembles, and taught a lab for the Basic Conducting course. Before joining the RIT, she was under the faculty of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Nazareth College. She is music director of the Taiwanese Choral Society of Rochester, the conducting fellow of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the founder/artistic director of F-Sharp Chamber Choir in Taipei.
