Upper Valley Symphony Orchestra Mission & Philosophy

Our Mission

The mission of the Upper Valley Symphony Orchestra is to foster musicianship, camaraderie, artistic discovery, and the love of music through performances of contemporary and classical music under the aegis of the Upper Valley Music Center.

We fulfill this mission by:

• Providing educational and performance opportunities for enthusiastic musicians with a range of abilities and ages.
• Probing and performing exceptional orchestral music of wide-ranging eras and styles.
• Collaborating with other musical organizations in the Upper Valley.

Our Programming Philosophy

Conductor Mark Nelson has a strong interest in twentieth-century and later music. He balances this affliction/interest with crowd- and orchestra-pleasing choices, such as recent renditions of Beethoven’s Symphony #2, and Bach’s Fourth Brandenburg with soloists from the orchestra.

Mark has a wide familiarity with repertoire, and aims to match pieces to the abilities of the orchestra. He is an excellent teacher and conductor, who makes conspicuously efficient use of rehearsal time, while presenting an entertaining and dynamic face to the orchestra. Demanding without being unfair, he avoids leaning on players of lesser abilities. He is an eloquent champion of works unfamiliar to many—or all—orchestra members; many have come to appreciate works they had approached quite gingerly.