The Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, comprised of approximately 90 to 100 musicians, is dedicated to performing symphonic repertoire from the baroque through the twentieth century, as well as contemporary works of our time. The Symphony Orchestra is directed by Jeffery Meyer and presents 5 to 8 concerts per year including the annual Concerto Concert, at which winners of the School's Annual Concerto Competition perform with the orchestra.  Guest conductors have included Daniel Hege (Syracuse Symphony), Jose-Luis Novo (Annapolis Symphony), and Larry Rachcleff (Rice University) among others, and the orchestra has collaborated with many of today's most prominent composers including Jennifer Higdon, Karel Husa, Michael Gandofli, Steven Mackey, Steven Stucky, Joan Tower, and Chen Yi.  Guest soloists who have appeared with the ICSO in recent seasons include Xak Bjerken (piano), Gilbert Kalish (piano) and Steven Mackey (electric guitar).  The ICSO was awarded the first prize in the 2010-2011 ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) Award for Adventurous Programming in the Collegiate Division by the League of American Orchestras.  The ICSO was also a prize winner in two separate categories in the 2011 American Prize: Orchestral Performance and the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award for Programming.  The ensemble has performed to high acclaim in Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, the Ithaca "Light in Winter" Festival, the New York State School Music Association Conferences, and New York University.

Membership in the IC Symphony Orchestra/Chamber Orchestra is open to all IC students by audition.  Audition repertoire and excerpts are available online.  Auditions take place during the first week of fall classes.  Auditions must show a mastery of the material and an awareness of the musical context from which the excerpts are taken.  Recordings can be found in the IC Music Library and from various commercial sources.  In addition to the ICSO and ICCO, there is also the Ithaca College Sinfonietta which meets for two hours per week and presents one concert per semester.  Please contact Jeff Meyer for further information about this group.