Blue Ridge Chamber Orchestra
Charlottesville's community string ensemble since 1988

News: Our cellist Liz Yohn has organized opportunities to play chamber music this summer! Her Summer Casual Chamber Music sessions are open to all, and will be held on Monday evenings from 7 to 9pm, in June and July, at Charlottesville Friends Meeting, 1104 Forest Street, in Charlottesville.  Bring your string instrument, a music stand, and any specific pieces you may want to play.  Suggested donation is $5 per session. The Blue Ridge Chamber Orchestra is a classical string ensemble of roughly two dozen musicians who love playing and performing, and who seek the camaraderie of others who share this vocation. For three decades, the BRCO has provided this opportunity. Orchestra members include adult musicians of all ages from Charlottesville and surrounding central Virginia. Our membership includes local music teachers and semiprofessional performers, veterans of high school and college orchestras, and advanced/intermediate adult learners. We try to increase local interest in chamber and orchestral music through our concerts. Our two or three programs each year have featured local musicians as soloists, and music by local composers. As a dynamic community organization, we are always open to adding new members, subject to balance in the sections. Please contact us if you are interested in joining. We rehearse on most Monday evenings during the academic year at Charlottesville Friends Meeting in central Charlottesville.   Fall 2025 Concert: in December. Stay tuned for details.

Contact us: Email: BRCO. Phone: (434)-964-6035. Join us:  Subject to balance in the sections, we welcome new musicians! If you are an intermediate or advanced musician, and think you might enjoy playing with the BRCO, please use the above contact info. Rehearsals, beginning in late Auguest for the fall 2025 season, are Monday evenings from 7:00-9:00, at Charlottesville Friends Meeting, 1104 Forest Street, Charlottesville.  (This is next to the Community Lab School, formally known as Murray High School.)   Support us: The expenses of the orchestra are primarily met through member's dues and the contributions of supporters.  We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and contributions to the orchestra are tax deductible.  Please contact us if you are interested in supporting us financially,  Listen to us:  Vivaldi  -  Concerto for strings in G minor, first movement (Allegro molto). Recorded at the BRCO concert of October 8, 2000.  Ross  -  Sinfonietta Concertante, third movement. Recorded at the BRCO concert of December 8, 2007.  Gluck  -  Orpheus and Eurydice, Overture. Recorded at the BRCO concert of December 8, 2012. Watch us on YouTube:  BlueRidgeChamberOrch   Gershwin's Lullaby, Korean folk song Airang (arr. Rowan Taylor), and Melody by Miroslav Skoryk. Recorded May, 2024. Telemann, Concerto for Three Violins in F major (soloists Joanna Freeman, Elizabeth Wagner, Hank Schutz).  Recorded December, 2016. Bach, Violin concerto in E major (soloist Hank Schutz), and pieces by Sibelius, Dvorak, and Janecek. Recorded May, 2016. Respighi, Ancient Dances and Airs, Suite no. 1, and Myslivecek, String Quintet no. 3. Recorded December, 2013. Bach, Concerto for two violins (soloists Elizabeth Wagner and Hank Schutz), and Ross, Fantastic Dances. Recorded December, 2012. Rutter, Suite for Strings. Recorded at the Spring 2010 concert. Director Mark Taylor Mark Taylor, a native of Southern California, began studying the piano at age five and violin at age seven. He holds violin performance degrees from Brigham Young University and The University of Michigan, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting from James Madison University. As a performer, he served for a decade as the concertmaster of the Shenandoah University Symphony, and regularly plays in the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival.  Mark has taught music and conducted college orchestras at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Viterbo College, and Southern Virginia University, and he directed the Rockbridge Symphony from 2005 until 2020. After three years away, he and his wife Samee are back living in central Virginia, and enjoying their eleven grandchildren.

History The BRCO was founded in 1988 by local violinist and teacher Alexandra McCracken, with the purpose of providing a setting in which adult musicians of varying musical backgrounds might experience the joy of making music in a collegial, non-competitive setting. We have had various conductors since Ms. McCracken left the area in the early 1990's.  For much of the 1990's, and then again from 2003 to 2020, our conductor was Richard Baritaud, a music educator in Charlottesville after two decades as a professional violist in orchestras around the world.  Philip Clark conducted the orchestra in the late 1990's, followed for a few years by Paul Kim, then a graduate student of conducting at U VA.  Rahima Wagner, an important member of our orchestra community for many years, conducted the orchestra in 2022 and 2023, before moving at the end of 2023. Mark Taylor has been directing our group since the beginning of 2024. Musical highlights have included playing Concerto for Bassoon and Strings by Walter Ross, a professor of music at U VA who was a bass player in the orchestra for many years, and the premiere of Paul Kim's Dave Matthews Band Concerto, guest conducted by the composer.  We have played as part of both the Jefferson Thanksgiving Festival and the Bach's Lunch concert series.  Hank Schutz served as concertmaster for many years, later sharing duties with Rahima Wagner. Our current concertmaster is Andrew Everton.

Recent Concerts Our spring 2025 concert was held on Saturday, May 10 at Meade Hall, Christ Episcopal Church, in downtown Charlottesville.  The concert began with Gustav Holst's Brook Green Suite and continued with Grieg's Holberg Suite.  The second half of the concert began with Bach's Concerto for violin and oboe in C minor, with Andrew Everton as violin soloist and our good friend Yasuko Kawasaki as oboe soloist.  The concert continued with movement 3 from Dvorak's Serenade for Strings and ended with Kirt Mosier's jazz-rock piece Red Rhythmico. Our fall 2024 concert was held on Saturday, December 7, at Meade Hall.  The concert had some notable soloists: flautist Cari Shipp was featured on Bach's Orchestral Suite no 2, Diane Phoenix-Neal was the solo violist for Hindemith's Trauermusic, and soprano Anna Taylor joined eight cellists for the Aria of Bachianas Brasileiras no 5 by Villa-Lobos.  The concert opened with Romanze in C by Sibelius. The second half of the concert included movement 2 from Dvorak's Serenade for Strings and Five variants of Dives and Lazarus, Vaughn Williams take on a well known British folk song. The concert ended with Hoedown from Rodeo by Copeland. Our spring 2024 concert, our first with Mark Taylor as conductor, was held on Saturday, May 11, at Meade Hall.  The first half of the program was Winter, from the Four Seasons, by Vivaldi, with Andrew Everton as soloist, followed by Korean folksong Arirang arranged by Rowen Taylor, Adagio and Fugue in C minor by Mozart, and Gershwin's Lullaby.  The second half began with Madeline Hamilton as harp solist for Debussy's Dances sacree et profane, movement 1 of Dvorak's Serenade for Strings, and Melody by Ukranian composer Miroslav Skoryk. Our fall 2023 concert was held on Saturday, December 9, at St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Ivy.  The concert began with Handel's Concerto Grosso in G major Op.6 no.1 and continued with Ancient Airs and Dances Suite no. 3 by Ottorino Respighi.  The concert continued with the Andante Cantabile from String Quartet no 1 in D major by Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi's Concerto for two cellos in G minor, with soloists Augie Fairchild and Liz Yohn, and concluded with Meditation on the Old Bohemian Chorale by Josef Suk.  We said farewell to Rahima Wagner, who is moving away. Our spring 2023 concert was held on Saturday, May 13, at St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Ivy.  Andrew Everton and Ashley Trone were our soloists for Bach's Concerto in D for two violins.  Other concert music included Concerto for strings in G by Tomas Albinoni, Idlyll by Leos Janacek, and St. Paul's Suite by Gustav Holst.  Our fall 2022 concert, our first concert in three years, and our first with Rahima Wagner conducting, was held on  Saturday, December 10, at St. Pauls Episcopal Church in Ivy.  After opening with Handel's The Entrance of the Queen of Sheba, the first half of the concert continued with the Holberg Suite by Edward Grieg and Corelli's Christmas Concerto (Concerto Grosso #8).  The second hafl of the concert included  Bartok's Rumanian Dances, Mozart's Divertimento #3 in F, and ended with Suite for Strings by British composer John Rutter. Our 2019 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 7, at Meade Hall. After opening with the Allegro movement from Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the concert featured Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, with Yasuko Kawasaki as oboe soloist, Rahima Wagner as violin soloist, and Carol Carr joining the orchestra on harpsichord.  The Elegie movement from Tchakovsky's Serenade for Strings finished the first half of the concert.  The concert continued with Summa by Arvo Part, Britten' Simple Symphony, and finished with another movement from the Tchakovsky Serenade: the Waltz. The program was also played the Monday before, at the Our Lady of Peace retirement community. Our 2019 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 4 at Meade Hall. The program opened with Andante Festivo by Sibelius, followed by Vivaldi's Concerto for guitar in D major with Greg Brown as our soloist. The concert continued with Elgar's Serenade for String Orchestra, the Lento movement of Dvorak's String Quartet in F Major Op. 96, and finally String Quartet, op. 76, no. 1 by Haydn.  The program was also played the Monday before, at the OLOP. Our 2018 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 15 at Meade Hall. The program featured Viola concerto in G major by Georg Telemann with our principal violist Ray Varona as our soloist. The concert opened with Corelli's Concerto grosso in G minor Op. 6, no. 8, also known as the Christmas Concerto.  Also on the program were the Adagio et grave and Allegro movements from Mendelssohn's Sinfonia no. 8 in D major and the Allegro movement of Dvorak's String Quartet in F Major Op. 96.  The program was also played the Monday before, at OLOP. Our 2018 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 12 at Meade Hall. The program featured Violin concerto in D minor by Antonio Vivaldi with our retiring concertmaster Hank Schutz as our soloist. The concert opened with Mozart's Divertimento no. 1 in D major, and also included the Allegro moderato and Nocturne movements from Quartet no. 2 by Alexander Borodin,  St. Pauls Suite by Gustav Holst, and the Pizzicato Polka by Johann and Josef Strauss as an encore.  The concert served as a celebration of Hank Schutz's 30 years of musical leadership with the BRCO.  The program was also played the Monday before, at OLOP. Our 2017 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 9 at Meade Hall. The concert opened with Alexander Glazunov's Theme and Variations, followed by Violin concerto in A minor by Antonio Vivaldi, with Rahima Elizabeth Wagner as our soloist.  The concert continued with Adagio for strings by Samuel Barber and  A Moorside Suite by Gustav Holst. The program was also played the Monday before, at OLOP. Our 2017 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 6 at Meade Hall. The program featured Violin concerto in A minor by J.S.Bach with Joanna Freeman as our soloist. The concert opened with Edward Grieg's Holberg Suite, and also included Sinfonia Concertante by UVA professor emeritus Walter Ross,  Serenade op.10 by Ernst von Dohnanyi, and 12th of December by Tracy Silverman. The program was also played the Monday before, at OLOP. Our 2016 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 3 at Meade Hall. The program featured Concerto for three violins in F major by G.P.Telemann.  Our soloists were Joanna Freeman, Elizabeth Wagner, and Hank Schutz. The concert opened with Andante Festivo by Jean Sibelius and Paul Hindemith's Eight pieces for string orchestra. The second half of the concert included Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 by J.S.Bach, John Rutter's Suite for strings, and Shenandoah Rhapsody by Walter Ross. The program was also played the Monday before, at the Westminster-Canterbury retirement community. Our 2016 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 14 at Meade Hall. The program featured Concerto for violin in E major by J.S.Bach with Hank Schutz as our soloist. The concert opened with Romance in C major by Jean Sibelius, and also included the opening movement of Seranade by Anton Dvorak, movements I,III,V, and VI from Leos Janacek's's Idyll for Strings, and Divertimento no. 3 in F major by W.A.Mozart. The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2015 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 5, at Meade Hall. The program included Music for String Orchestra by Walter Leigh, Rumanian Folks Dances by Bela Bartok, Flute Concerto in G major by Giovanni Pergolesi, Four short pieces by Cesar August Franck, Blues for Oaktown by Darol Anger, and Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony. Katie Calaway was our flute soloist. The program was also played the Monday before, at OLOP. Our 2015 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 2 at Meade Hall. The program included Concerto Grosso Op.6, no.3, in E minor by G.F.Handel, Violin Concerto, op. 4, no. 1 by Antonio Vivaldi, Symphony in A major by C.P.E.Bach, and Mendelssohn's Sinfonia no.1 in C major.   Elizabeth Wagner was our soloist for the Vivaldi concerto. The program was also played the Monday before, at  OLOP. Our 2014 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 13 at Meade Hall. The program included Elegy for string orchestra by Morton Gould, Violin Concerto, op. 8, no. 12 by Antonio Vivaldi, Felix Mendelssohn's Sinfonia no. 3 in E minor, Concerto Grosso, Op. 8, no. 2 by Francesco Geminiani, and Edward Elgar's Serenade for String Orchestra. Hank Schutz was the soloist for the Vivaldi concerto.  The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2014 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 10 at Meade Hall. The program included Two Swedish Melodies op. 27 by Johan Svendsen, Violin Concerto, op. 7, no. 8 by Antonio Vivaldi, String Quintet no. 1 by Josef Myslivecek, Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and Mendelssohn's Sinfonia 2 in D major.   Paula Scott was our soloist for the Vivaldi concerto. The program was also played the Monday before, at OLOP. Our 2013 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 14 at Trinity Episcopal Church, in Charlottesville. The program included Two Icelandic Melodies by Johan Svendsen, String Quintet no. 3 by Josef Myslivecek, Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite 1 by Ottorino Respighi, Concerto Polonois by Telemann, and the first movement of Mendelssohn's Sinfonia 8 in D major. The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2013 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 11 at Meade Hall. The program included the Concerto no. 1, op. 10 by Albinoni, Ancient Dances and Airs, suite 3 by Respighi, Andante Festivo by Sibelius, Mendelssohn's Sinfonia 10 in B minor, and movements I and V of Caminos Argentinos by Jeff Manookian.  The program was also played the Monday before, at the OLOP, and selections were played in the Bach's Lunch concert series on May 9. Our 2012 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 8 at Meade Hall. The program included the Overture and Dances of the Blessed Spirits from Orfeo and Euridice by C.W.Gluck, Concerto for two violins by J.S.Bach, and three pieces by University of Virginia professor emeritus of music Walter Ross:  Fantastic Dances, Sinfonietta Concertante, and Shenandoah Rhapsody.  The flute soloists for Dances of the Blessed Spirits were Kimberly Chafee and Matthew Heinrich and the soloists for the Bach concerto were Elizabeth Wagner and Hank Schutz.  The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2012 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 12 at Meade Hall. On the program was the Abdelazer Suite by Purcell, Adagietto for strings by Robert Kajanus, John Ireland's A Downland Suite, Vivaldi's Concerto in G Major "Alla Rustica", Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite, and Pleasant Memories by Scott Joplin.  The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2011 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 10 at Meade Hall. The program included Concerto Grosso op.6 no.8 by Corelli, Theme and variations for string orchestra in G minor by Glazunov, Villa-Lobos' lovely Aria Cantilena, as well as Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams, Fiddler's Fury by Stafford, and Song to the Moon by Dvorak. The program was also played the Monday before, at the OLOP. Our 2011 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 7 at Meade Hall. On the program was Concerto Grosso op.6 no.7 by Handel, Violin Concerto in B flat major by Vivaldi, Holberg Suite by Edvard Grieg, the waltz movement of Seranade for Strings by Tchaikovsky, and the Pizzicato Polka by Johann Stauss. Annie Kim was the violin concerto soloist. The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2010 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 11 at Meade Hall. The program included Concerto Grosso op.6 no.10 by Corelli, Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor with concertmaster Hank Schutz as soloist, Mozart's Divertimento no. 3 in F, and A Moorside Suite by Holst. The program was also played the Monday before, at OLOP. Our 2010 spring concert was held on Saturday, May 15 at Meade Hall. The program included St. Paul Suite by Gustav Holst, Concerto in C major for mandolin and string orchestra by Vivaldi, Serenade in C major by Ernst Dohnanyi, Spider Dreams by David Balkrishnan, and Suite for Strings by John Rutter. Charles Winkler was our mandolin soloist. The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2009 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 12 at Meade Hall, Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Charlottesville.  The program included Sonata III A 5, Op. 2 by Albinoni, Idyll for String Orchestra by Janecek, Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 by Bach, and the aptly titled 12th of December by Silverman.  Our soloists for the Brandenburg Concerto were our own Elizabeth Wagner on violin, and high school students Chelsea Meynig and Jessica Kaisoum on flutes. The program was also played the Monday before, at OLOP. Our 2009 spring concert was held on Saturday, April 25, at St. Pauls Memorial Church, located across from the Rotunda at U VA.  The program included Sinfonie a cinque, Op.2, no.3 by Albinoni, Sonata no. 4 in D major, Op1, no.13 by Handel, music from Bizet's Carmen, the early 20th century work Meditation on Svaty Vaclave by Josef Suk, and Skylife by David Balakrishnan, founder of the Turtle Island Quartet. The program was also played a week later, at WC. Our 2008 fall concert "Britten, Barber, and the Blues" was held on Saturday, November 22 at Meade Hall, Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Charlottesville.  The program included Sonata a cinque, Op. 2 No. 1 by Albinoni, Music for String Orchestra by Walter Leigh, Adagio for Strings by Barber, Simple Symphony by Britten, and Blues for Oaktown by Darol Anger. The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2008 spring concert "Odds and Ends: three hundred years of string music" was held on Sunday, May 4 at St. Paul's Memorial Church.  The program included Suite #2 from the Fairy Queen by Purcell,  Andante Cantabile by Tchaikovsky, Notturno in B by Dvorak, two piano preludes by Shostakovich arranged for string orchestra, Crisantemi by Puccini, and Sinfonia in F by Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, the eldest of J.S.Bach’s sons.  The program was also played the Monday before, at WC. Our 2007 fall concert was held on Saturday, December 8 at St. Paul's Memorial Church.  The program included Coronation Music by Handel, Ancient Airs and Dances by Respighi, Serenade for String Orchestra by Elgar, and Sinfonietta Concertante by our own Walter Ross. The program was also played the Monday evening before, at OLOP. A very successful Mothers Day spring concert was held on May 13, 2007, at Temple Beth Israel in downtown Charlottesville. The program included Albinoni’s Concerto for Strings, Op. 7 No. 4, Arditi’s Il Bacio, Corelli’s Concerto Grosso No. 2, Svendsen’s Zwei Schwedische Volksmelodien, and Vivaldi’s Concerto in G minor, F XI no. 13.   The program was also played the Monday evening before, at OLOP.

Other Cville musical links: Charlottesville Municipal Band Virginia Viola Society