During Spring Quarter 2020, the Stanford Symphony Orchestra and Stanford Philharmonia are merged in an online course called “SSO Online” (MUSIC 160/160Z), which combines inquiry into orchestral music, through videos, recordings, and readings, with live discussions with prominent individuals from the musical world. Led by Professor Paul Phillips, “SSO Online” meets via Zoom each Tuesday from 5:00-6:30pm Pacific Time beginning 7 April and ending 9 June 2020. The syllabus can be viewed here. All classes will be recorded and available to all participants in order to make it possible for anyone to take the course, even if they have a conflict with the meeting time or reside in a time zone that precludes them from participating in the live sessions. Students may register for MUSIC 160, for one unit, or for MUSIC 160Z, the zero-unit option. Auditions are not required to register for MUSIC 160 in Spring 2020 and all interested students are encouraged to enroll. MUSIC 160 will be graded Satisfactory/No Credit in accordance with the Spring 2020 grading policy approved by the Faculty Senate on 26 March. Any questions should be emailed to orchestra@stanford.edu.

The Keeping Score series on orchestral repertoire, produced by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, will be viewed throughout the course. The subjects of these videos are Beethoven, Berlioz, Copland, Ives, Mahler, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. Other course materials will include videos featuring Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, and others, and readings on a variety of musical subjects. Please note that “SSO Online” will not take place at the usual SSO rehearsal times on Monday and Thursday evenings, but instead will meet weekly on Tuesdays at 5:00pm. The resumption of regular orchestral activity on campus will begin as soon as possible once the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

SPECIAL GUESTS: Mindy Kaufman, solo piccolo/flute of the New York Philharmonic (April 7); Erin Keefe, concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra, and her husband Osmo Vänskä, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra since 2003 and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra beginning January 2020 (April 14); Blair Tindall, Stanford MA ’00 (journalism) and author of Mozart in the Jungle (April 21); Vinay Parameswaran, assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra (April 28); Joshua Kosman, classical music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle (May 5); Wang Lu, composer and professor at Brown University, and her husband Anthony Cheung, composer/pianist and professor at the University of Chicago (May 12); Aaron P. Dworkin, founder of The Sphinx Organization, author of The Entrepreneurial Artist: Lessons from Highly Successful Creatives, and Professor of Arts Leadership and Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan, and his wife Afa Dworkin, president & artistic director of The Sphinx Organization (May 19); William Bolcom, Stanford DMA ’64 and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and his wife Joan Morris, mezzo-soprano (May 26); Greg Sandow, music critic and composer, and his wife Anne Midgette, former music critic of the Washington Post (June 2); and John Adams, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and father of Samuel Adams, Stanford ’08 (June 9).

Supported by a COVID-19 Creative Community Response Grant from

Due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and to help protect the health of our communities, all Department of Music concerts are canceled until further notice.

The Stanford Symphony Orchestra, Stanford Philharmonia, and Stanford Summer Symphony provide outstanding opportunities for the practice and enjoyment of orchestral music. SSO and SP rehearse and perform throughout the academic year, with SSS taking place each July. Most concerts are performed in Bing Concert Hall. Collaborative performances often take place with the Stanford Chamber Chorale, Stanford Symphony Chorus, University Singers, Stanford Wind Symphony, and Stanford Live. Membership in SSO, SP, and SSS is open by audition to all Stanford students (undergraduate and graduate), medical students, Stanford staff and faculty, and members of the community of all ages, with priority given to Stanford students. Members do not have to major in music; in fact, fewer than 5% of SSO and SP members are music majors, with most orchestra members majoring in STEM fields.