Aberdeen University/Civic Symphony
Pursue Your Passion for Music!
The 50-member Aberdeen University/Civic Symphony (AUCS) performs 3 full orchestra concerts per season, plus a fall musical and other concerts. The AUCS provides an exciting and rewarding experience to Northern students and community musicians who are interested in performing great orchestral music
Dr. Robert Vodnoy became the orchestra’s 16th conductor when he joined Northern's faculty in the fall of 2005.
The 2012-2013 season, "MUSICAL PASSIONS," opens in November with all-orchestral program entitled "GODS AND MONSTERS." This spectacular program includes Mozart’s majestic Jupiter Symphony and Debussy’s exquisite tone poem Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, which will be performed in honor of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The program will conclude with the 1919 Suite from Stravinsky’s great ballet The Firebird.
The winter concert, CELEBRATING VERDI AND WAGNER, honors of the 200th anniversaries of the births of these giants of Romantic Opera. The 130-voice NSU College Choir will join the AUCS for performances of glorious music from La Traviata.
The season concludes in April 2013 with OOH-LA-LA! FRENCH NIGHT AT THE SYMPHONY. You’ll declare “c’est magnifique” for this program, which features prize-winning cellist Wesley Baldwin performing Eduard Lalo’s virtuoso Cello Concerto in D Minor, plus classical and popular orchestral selections from Carmen, La Cage aux Folles, Les Miserables, and Can-Can.
The orchestra will also perform on the HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA concert in December, and members of the orchestra will form the pit orchestra for the fall musical LEGALLY BLONDE.
Membership in the AUCS is through auditions at the beginning of each season. For Northern students, under the new credit guidelines, up to 3 semesters of ensemble credit (MUEN110-310) can be counted toward the Arts & Humanities 6-credit requirement for graduation.
The Aberdeen University/Civic Symphony (AUCS) has been a focal point of musical life in Aberdeen for more than a century. It was founded as the Normal Orchestra before 1910 under J.J. Cason, and became a college/community orchestra in 1920 under Howard Elson Goodsell.
The nonprofit “Friends of the Aberdeen University/Civic Symphony” supports the orchestra and strengthens it as a community resource. For more information, contact Board President Gregg Magera at 605-225-5420. The orchestra receives an Importation of Musicians Grant from the South Dakota Arts Council.
Auditions for the orchestra will be held in JC-109 on August 28 from 3-5:30 p.m., and on August 29 from 6:00-9:00PM. A sign-up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board outside of the room beginning on August 22. For the audition, musicians should prepare a concerto movement, solo piece, or concert etude and one each of a 2- or 3- octave major and minor scale and arpeggio. Musicians will be asked to sight-read a short passage.
For more information about the AUCS or tickets for orchestra concerts, contact the NSU Fine Arts Office at 605-626-2497 or email
Robert.Vodnoy@northern.edu.