History
The Cache Symphony Orchestra is based in Logan, Utah, USA, home to the main campus of Utah State University, in beautiful Cache Valley. CSO has grown from a small chamber orchestra in 1975 to a grand symphony of over 100 members.
Mission
The mission of the Cache Symphony Orchestra is to provide opportunities for community members and Utah State University students to play in a high-quality symphony orchestra under the direction of a faculty member of the USU Department of Music, and to provide rich symphonic concert experiences to Cache Valley residents.
Board of Directors
CSO is governed by a volunteer community board of directors that partners with the USU Music Department Head to select the CSO Artistic Director, Associate Conductor, and guest conductors. The Board operates according to the CSO Bylaws. The members of the Board are:
Boyd Edwards, chair
Ann Austin, vice chair
Ann Bailey, past chair
Karla Axtell, concerto competition coordinator
Anna Lisa Davidson, woodwind recruiter
Courtney Goodin, marketing
Jayme McKenna, personnel manager
Michelle Olaveson, secretary
Dirk Pace, treasurer
Heidee Spencer, librarian
Randall Thunell, percussion recruiter
Conductors
The CSO artistic director is Dr. Mark Emile, and the CSO associate conductor is Dr. Ghyas Zeidieh. Their bios can be found here. Guest conductors are occasionally invited to conduct.
Membership
CSO welcomes skilled string, woodwind, brass, percussion, keyboard, and harp players to audition for membership. For information about auditions, please visit the CSO Auditions page.
To involve as many qualified musicians as possible, CSO may accept more musicians than are needed on some instruments. This means that CSO membership doesn’t necessarily imply participation in every concert, or even participation in every selection in every concert (See Rosters).
USU students may receive credit for participating in CSO by enrolling in MUSC 3530.
Concerts
CSO performs two concerts per year, one during the USU Fall semester and the other during the USU Spring semester. The Spring concert features the winners of the CSO Concerto Competition. To watch video recordings of concerts, please visit the CSO YouTube channel.
Rehearsals
To allow sufficient rehearsal time to fulfill credit requirements for MUSC 3530 while setting high expectations for personal preparation, between six and eight 2-hour rehearsals are scheduled to prepare for each concert. Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 – 9:00 PM in the USU Fine Arts Center, Room 104.
Attendance is expected at all rehearsals. If you must miss a rehearsal, please complete the CSO Absent Form at least 48 hours before the rehearsal to help us in planning and setting up the rehearsal.
The CSO Personnel Manager (see below) will email a detailed schedule before each rehearsal to inform players about which portion of the rehearsal they need to attend.
Rosters
Before rehearsals begin for each concert, the CSO Personnel Manager (see below) emails a participation form to notify CSO members about the concert date, the rehearsal dates, and the concert program; and to ask members about their availability to play the concert. In case more members are available on a particular instrument than are needed, the participation form also asks whether members would be willing to play only a portion of the concert, and if so, which portion of the concert they would prefer to play. These preferences, player audition ratings, and the needs of the music are used to develop concert rosters; the higher the audition rating, the greater the likelihood that a player may be granted their preferences.
Although stronger players are generally placed near the front of each section, members are rotated within sections from concert to concert to achieve better strength and balance, and to provide opportunities to meet new friends. For the same reason, violinists are sometimes rotated between the first and second violin sections.
Dues
CSO members are expected to pay $25 in dues within 30 days after the first rehearsal of each semester. These dues, combined with ticket sales, cover conductor stipends, concert venue rentals, music rentals, and advertising. USU students taking MUSC 3530 are exempt from these dues. Dues may be paid in cash or by check (payable to Cache Symphony Orchestra) delivered to the treasurer, Dirk Pace, or electronically through the following options:
PayPal – www.paypal.me/CacheSymph
Venmo – https://venmo.com/Cache-Symphony
PayPal
Venmo
Personnel Manager
If you have questions, please feel free to contact Jayme McKenna, the CSO Personnel Manager, at cachesymphonyorchestra@gmail.com.