UCLA PHILHARMONIA is UCLA's flagship orchestral ensemble. It rehearses Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 to 5:50 PM and presents a wide range of performances throughout the year, including symphonic concerts, opera and music theater.
Philharmonia's programming focuses on the core symphonic and operatic repertoire. 2005-06 and 2006-07 featured performances of Prokofiev Symphony No. 5, Dvorak Cello Concerto, Copland Piano Concerto, Takemitsu Ceremonial: An Autumn Ode, Strauss Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Zappa Dupree's Paradise, Ravel Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, an annual "All-Star" concert featuring student soloists, Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 9 and 10, a UCLA Opera production of Britten Midsummer Night's Dream and Puccini Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica, Janacek Sinfonietta, Messiaen Les Offrandes Oubliées, Bernstein Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, Rozsa Concerto for Strings, Brahms Symphony No. 4, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, Lukas Foss Baroque Variations, J.S. Bach Orchestral Suite No. 4, four Royce Hall appearances and a live concert broadcast from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
2007-2008 highlights include Stravinsky Petrushka (1947), Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Messiaen Oiseaux Exotiques, Haydn Symphony No. 103 (Drumroll), UCLA Opera productions of Verdi Falstaff and Weill Threepenny Opera, appearances at Royce Hall and the "Sundays Live" series at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a special June 2008 revival of In the Land of the Head Hunters, a groundbreaking 1914 silent film with a restored original score by John Braham. For this gala event, UCLA Philharmonia has been invited to perform at the Harold Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center.
Founded in 1936, the Philharmonia's music directors have included such distinguished musicians as Lukas Foss, Richard Dufallo, Mehli Mehta, Samuel Krachmalnick, Alexander Treger and Jon Robertson. 2007-2008 marks the third season of Philharmonia's dynamic music director and conductor Neal Stulberg.