History of the Orchestra

The UCD Symphony Orchestra was founded in 2002. It gives major performances each year on campus and in the National Concert Hall, featuring prestigious soloists and exciting programmes. Major works featured in previous concerts include Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Coriglione’s The Red Violin, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Rachmaninov’s Paganini Variations, Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé and Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. Soloists have included the pianists Philip Martin and Michael McHale, violinists Cora Venus Lunny and Elizabeth Cooney, guitarist Redmond O’Toole and cellist Ailbhe McDonagh. The orchestra has also been joined in concert by the UCD Choral Scholars, UCD Philharmonic Choir and Enchiriadis.

The orchestra enjoys strong links with the UCD School of Music, which offers participation each semester as a recognised module/elective, and is generously supported by UCD’s Vice-President for Students, Dr Martin Butler. Since 2006, funding from the Bank of Ireland, Irish Life and IE Domain Registry has resulted in the creation of scholarships for UCDSO playing members. Future plans include a follow-up to the highly successful “A Night at the Movies” programme, a concert exchange with the University Orchestra of Mannheim, a gala concert of musical highlights and a performance of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony to commemorate our 10th birthday.

Conductor Biography

Ciarán read music at King's College London, studying violin with Gerhard Schmidt at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and has a masters degree from Goldsmiths, University of London. He studied orchestral conducting under Jaroslav Vodňánsky at the Prague Conservatory of Music, and his other conducting teachers have included Dominique Rouits, Gerhard Markson, Peter Eötvös and Salvador Mas Conde. His training has been generously supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, who have helped fund attendance at courses in Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic. Between 2002 and 2005, Ciarán was an IRCHSS Research Scholar at University College Dublin, where he lectures on orchestral conducting and 20th-century music. In 2008, UCD awarded him a PhD in musicology based on his thesis entitled “The (Syn)Aesthetics of Modernism: Music and Visual Art in the Early Twentieth Century”.

Ciarán became Principal Conductor of the Dublin Orchestral Players in 2007 and he has been Artistic Director of the UCD Symphony Orchestra since its foundation in 2002. In 2005, he was highly commended by the selection jury of the Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors. Ciarán has also worked with the Dublin Symphony Orchestra, Dublin Screen Orchestra, Savaria Symphony Orchestra, Cadaqués Orchestra, Miró Chamber Orchestra, Baden Sinfonietta, RIAM Symphony Orchestra, RIAM Wind Ensemble, Dublin County Choir, UCD Choral Scholars, UCD Philharmonic Choir, EAR Ensemble, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Hibernian Orchestra and the Dublin Baroque Players. He has conducted studio recordings of feature film and television scores, music for live film screenings and is an external examiner in orchestral conducting for the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

As a violinist and violist, Ciarán’s experience includes performances with RTÉ, Irish Film Orchestra, Orlando Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Dvořák Festival, Irish Sinfonia, Serenata String Quartet and the Alpha Quartet. Popular music acts that he has played with include Brian Kennedy, Alison Moyet, Vyvienne Long, Paul Weller and Elton John.

The Grattan Prize

This annual prize has been established to honour Deirdre Grattan, a colleague and friend who has done so much to support and develop the UCD Symphony Orchestra, on her retirement from UCD in 2009. The Grattan Prize is awarded to the orchestra’s outstanding musician of the year. The first recipient of this honour was Christopher Rooney (trombone) in 2010. The award is made at our annual National Concert Hall event in the spring.

How to join

Whether you are musically talented or have expertise in other areas, the UCDSO could use your help. There are various ways to get involved from helping with the library to concert promotion.

Auditions take place at the beginning of semester and you do not need to be studying music. The first step is to contact us by filling out the form on this site. An audition is typically 10 minutes long and you are required to perform a prepared piece as well as some sight-reading.

Rehearsal Schedule 2011–12

Rehearsals take place in the Astra Hall, UCD Student Centre. Regular rehearsals are on Monday evenings at 6.30–9pm (please help to set-up from 6pm) with extra sessions scheduled in the run-up to concerts. These all take place is a friendly yet hard-working environment. Sectional rehearsals are taken by highly experienced professional musicians.

Semester 1 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Week 1: 10th Sept 2012   AUDITIONS
5–9pm School of Music (J305)		      
Week 2: 17th Sept 2012        
Week 3: 24th Sept 2012 REHEARSAL
  6–9pm Astra Hall		         SECTIONALS 
(Small Groups)  11–3pm Student Centre
Week 4: 1st Oct 2012 REHEARSAL 
6–9pm Astra Hall		         SECTIONALS
(Large Groups) 11–4pm Astra Hall
Week 5: 8th Oct 2012 REHEARSAL 
6–9pm Astra Hall		          
Week 6: 15th Oct 2012 REHEARSAL
6–9pm Astra Hall		          
Week 7: 22nd Oct 2012 REHEARSAL
6–9pm Astra Hall		          
Week 8: 29th Oct 2012 NO REHEARSAL 
  (Bank Holiday)		   REHEARSAL 
6–9pm Astra Hall		      
Week 9: 5th Nov 2012 REHEARSAL
  6–9pm Astra Hall		   REHEARSAL 
6–9pm Astra Hall		      
Week 10: 12th Nov 2012 REHEARSAL 
6–9pm Astra Hall		 REHEARSAL 
6–9pm Astra Hall		 REHEARSAL
6–9pm Astra Hall		 REHEARSAL 
6–9pm Belfield Church		   REHEARSAL 
1–5pm Belfield Church
Week 11: 19th Nov 2012 CONCERT 
National Concert Hall		          
Week 12: 26 Nov 2012