The UNC Symphony Orchestra has won the 2012 first place American Prize in Orchestral Performance in the college/university division.
The prize was awarded based on the orchestra’s performance of Rachmaninoff “Symphonic Dances” in April 2011. The orchestra is conducted by Tonu Kalam, music professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has directed the orchestra since 1988.
The American Prize is a national competition in the performing arts. Each year, the prize is given for the best recorded performances by individual artists and ensembles in the United States at the professional, community, college, church and school levels.
The UNC Symphony Orchestra is a 100-member ensemble. Enrollment is open by audition to music majors, non-majors, graduate students in any field and recent graduates of UNC. The orchestra often presents faculty and student musicians as concerto soloists and has regularly collaborated with UNC opera and choral ensembles, including recent full productions of Mozart’s “Così fan tutte,” Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and Brahms’ “German Requiem.” Concert repertoire is selected to provide the musicians with a wide perspective of major orchestral works spanning the 18th through the 21st centuries.
Listen to UNC Symphony Orchestra performances:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWBrBRWl1fY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIp5x5NIaME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8ICrl3Ny6s
