Vespers Festival Orchestra


Vespers Festival Orchestra

Established in 2018, the KU Vespers Festival Orchestra (VFO) offers a unique opportunity for all KU university students, faculty, staff, alumni, and interested members of the Lawrence community to perform with the KU Symphony Orchestra for the immensely popular annual Holiday Vespers performances. Players attend rehearsals with the KU Symphony and work towards the performances together in a supportive and fun musical environment. Players sit side-by-side with current KUSO members, offering the opportunity to make new friends, revisit old ones, and experience or re-live life as a Jayhawk!

Repertoire for the Vespers Festival Orchestra includes a diverse array of musical styles, genres, and composers ranging from orchestral classics to lesser-known works, holiday pops, and choral/orchestral literature, and is supplied prior to the commencement of rehearsals. The Vespers performances always feature a sing-a-long medley, so your friends and family in the audience can be part of the performance too! VFO rehearsals for Vespers typically begin in November and run through the performances in early December.

There is no audition required to join the Vespers Festival Orchestra, and there is no cost involved. Rather, interested players are required to commit to the rehearsal schedule, and prepare their parts to the best of their ability.

Registration for the Vespers Festival Orchestra is currently limited to players of orchestral string instruments only: violin, viola, cello, and double bass.