University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra

Background:

This tour was sponsored by the U.S. State Department, as one of President Kennedy's initiatives to improve relations with Latin America. We were selected by audition tape and additional staff efforts; groups from other universities were selected to tour elsewhere during the 1960s.

Personnel:

80 students; 5 staff

Travel:

24,000 miles; 11 countries; 42 cities

Concerts:

159 total; 50 full orchestra

Audience:

116,300 live; 2,750,000 TV & radio

Ensembles:

Full orchestra, strings, string quartet, woodwind quintet, brass ensemble, percussion ensemble, piano quintet

Equipment:

62 crates & trunks; 8,300 pounds

Medical:

5 hospital cases; 2 major surgeries

Repertoire:

(partial list)
Barber: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 38 (Bob Ward, piano)
Beethoven: Overture, Egmont
Binkerd: The Sun Singer
Brahms: Symphony #2 in D major, Op. 73
Cordero: Capricho Interiorano
Cowell: Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra
deFalla: Final Dance from the "Three Cornered Hat"
Dello Joio: Symphony: the Triumph of Saint Joan
Dvorak: Symphony #8 in G major, op. 88
Haydn: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in D major (Mark Leaf, cello)
Haydn: Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Cello, Oboe, Bassoon, and Orchestra
Revueltas: Sensamaya
Schuller: Seven Studies on Themes of Paul Klee
Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5 in e minor, Op 64
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings (Prof. Delaney, conducting)
Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococco Theme (Bill Skidmore, cello)
Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras #4
Encores (partial list)
Bizet: selections from "Carmen"
Lerner & Lowe: selections from "My Fair Lady" (Bill McNeiland, conducting)
Sousa: Stars and Stripes Forever
Strauss, Edward: Clear Track Polka (Wayne Cook, conducting)