About Us

Our purpose at YUCO is to bring oft-ignored chamber orchestra masterpieces into the limelight at Yale. Works like Strauss's Metamorphosen, Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, and the Lark Ascending are often excluded from the repertoire of current Yale ensembles. This is due to both instrumentation restrictions in the case of YSO, as well as the limits of coordinating personnel for repertoire that require a high technical and musical level. YUCO is also a space for introducing new works for chamber orchestra into the repertoire. YUCO provides a space for up-and-coming composers to premiere their works in a welcoming, pre-professional environment, one that supports recordings for competitions and auditions. In addition to composers, YUCO can also be a meaningful stepping stone for conductors and instrumentalists on their way to graduate school and on their career paths. YUCO is, first and foremost, a performance ensemble dedicated to fulfilling its members' musical dreams and introducing repertoire to musicians and audience members alike that would have never played or heard otherwise.