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.

Upcoming Concerts

Lawrence Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Mark Dupere
Audition required, six performances a year

Lawrence University Symphony Orchestra performing in Memorial Chapel.

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.

2024-2025 LSO Repertoire

Concert 1 | Saturday, October 5, 7:30pm
Dmitry Kabalevsky - Overture to Colas Breugnon, Op. 24
Gabriella Smith - Tumblebird Contrails
Franz Liszt - Les Préludes

Kaleidoscope | Saturday, October 12, 7:30pm
Dmitry Kabalevsky - Overture to Colas Breugnon, Op. 24
Johann Strauss Jr. - "Brüderlein, Brüderlein und Schwesterlein" from Die Fledermaus

Concert 2 | Saturday, November 16, 7:30pm
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major, K. 595 
with Professor Catherine Kautsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64

Opera | March 6-9, 2025, 7:30pm
Gian Carlo Menotti - The Consul

Concert 3 | Friday, March 14, 2025, 7:30pm
Wynton Marsalis - Danzon y Mambo, Choro y Samba from Blues Symphony
Béla Bartók - Violin Concerto No. 2, Sz. 112 (I. Allegro non troppo)
with Benjamin Frueh, Concerto Competition Co-Winner
Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93

Concert 4 (Major Works with LU Choirs, conducted by Dr. Phillip Swan) | Friday, April 25, 2025, 7:30pm
Gustav Holst - Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, Op. 26 (Group 1, H. 97)
Dan Forrest - Psalm of Ascension & The Sun Never Says (from LUX)
Jake Runestad - Climb
Jocelyn Hagen - The Notebooks of Leonardo DaVinci

Concert 5 | Friday, June 6, 2025, 7:30pm
Matthew Forte - Head Up (LSO co-commission)
Frédéric Chopin - Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 (I. Allegro maestoso)
with William Surtees, Concerto Competition Co-winner
Claude Debussy - La Mer

Lawrence Chamber Orchestra

Conductor: Mark Dupere
Audition required

A young man in a black shirt with short dark hair and glasses is seen in profile playing the violin during an orchestra concert

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.

Discover ensemble performances through our webcasts.

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A musical life awaits. Take the next steps by applying and auditioning.

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