Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra & Jigme

A collaborative jam between renowned Bhutanese traditional musician Jigme and the Harvard-Radclife Orchestra.

Harvard-Radclife Orchestra

The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) is a collegiate symphony orchestra comprising Harvard students and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in March 1808 as the Pierian Sodality, the orchestra is considered by some to be the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. The HRO assumed its current form as a modern symphony orchestra during the first half of the 20th century, and was, for a brief time, the nation’s largest collegiate orchestra.

The orchestra currently contains over 100 members, and is the largest of the orchestras at Harvard University. The orchestra plays four season concerts every year in Sanders Theater on Harvard’s campus. It also sometimes gives children’s concerts and regularly participates in the annual Arts First arts festival at Harvard. Its alumni board is still known as the Pierian Sodality of 1808.

HRO has toured various places throughout its history, including South Korea, Brazil, Washington, D.C., Mexico, Canada, Italy, Soviet Union, Asia, Europe, and most recently, Cuba. HRO has also performed in Carnegie Hall, and in 1978 placed third in the International Festival of Student Orchestras.

The current music director is Federico Cortese, who has been in the post since 2009.