Conductor Mark Dupere is committed to leading rehearsals and performances that let you explore and strive for active engagement with the music and the audience.
You’ll pursue excellent music making by drawing together threads from musicology, theory, history, and score study. You’ll also look to forms of expression like art, poetry, fiction, and architecture. Experience an energetic sense of community while participating in the dialogue at the heart of the creative process.
Lawrence Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Mark Dupere Audition required, five to six performances a year
Perform with one of the premier undergraduate orchestras in the country. You’ll play a rich variety of repertoire including standard orchestral works, opera, contemporary music, and new commissions. Guest conductors have included Robert Spano, Gunther Schuller, and Lowell Liebermann. In 2021, the Lawrence Symphony Orchestra was selected as a finalist in the American Prize in Orchestral Performance.
2026-2027 LSO Repertoire
Concert 1 | Saturday, October 10 | 7:30 p.m.
Lully – Turkish March from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, LWV 43
Respighi – Fountains of Rome
Bernstein – Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town”
Barber – Adagio for Strings
Bloch – Poems of the Sea, B. 46
LSO Concerto Competition | Sunday, November 1 | 1 p.m.
Concert 2 | Saturday, November 14 | 7:30 p.m.
Herryman Rodríguez – ¡Bienvenido júbilo!
Brahms – Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68
Concert 3 (Children’s Concert) | Saturday, January 30 | 3 p.m.
Smetana – Dance of the Comedians from The Bartered Bride
Saint-Saëns – The Carnival of the Animals
Grieg – In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, op. 46
Opera | February 18-21 Repertoire TBD
Concert 4 | Friday, March 5 | 7:30 p.m.
Concerto Competition Winner(s) – TBD
Copland – Billy the Kid Suite
Concert 5 (Choral) | Friday, April 23 | 7:30 p.m.
Boulanger – Psaume CXXX: “Du fond de l’abîme”
Debussy – La Damoiselle élue, L. 62
Villa-Lobos – Chôros No. 10, W209 with Lawrence University Choirs
Concert 6 | Friday, June 4 | 7:30 p.m.
Bentz – Puzzle Box
Shostakovich – Symphony No. 10 in E minor, op. 93
Lawrence Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Mark Dupere Audition required
Lawrence Chamber Ensemble is not one of our core ensembles but is convened for special performances when the program calls for a more intimate orchestra. Explore the rich repertoire written for a smaller orchestra and enrich your orchestral experience. This group, primarily strings, gives you opportunities to develop both your leadership and chamber music skills while performing both orchestral standards and contemporary music. Recent performances include Faure’s Requiem with the Concert Choir.
