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, 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.

2025-2026 LSO Repertoire

Concert 1 | Saturday, October 11, 7:30pm
Berlioz - Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9
Barber - Overture to "The School for Scandal," Op. 5
Rimsky-Korsakov - Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36
Elgar - In the South (Alassio) Op. 50

LSO Concerto Competition | Sunday, November 2, 1pm

Concert 2 | Saturday, November 15, 7:30pm
Musgrave - Loch Ness - A postcard from Scotland
featuring Zachary Marley
Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56 "Scottish"

Composers' Workshop | January 26-30
Earshot Readings (American Composers Orchestra)

Opera | March 5-8
Mack - A Nearer Mother*
*World premiere

Concert 3 | Saturday, March 14, 7:30pm
Concerto Competition Winner/s - TBD
Bustamante - Suite Macorix

Concert 4 (Choral) | Friday, April 24, 7:30pm
Brahms - Gesang der Parzen, Op. 89
Beach - Canticle of the Sun, Op. 123
Bruckner - Requiem, WAB 39
with Lawrence University Choirs
Dr. Shannon Gravelle, conductor

Concert 5 | Friday, June 5, 7:30pm
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125
with Lawrence Concert Choir and soloists

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.

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

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