Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra

The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Harvard’s premier symphony orchestra, known for musical excellence and rare levels of student musicianship, has captivated audiences since 1808 with its powerful and thought-provoking performances and has cultivated some of the world’s most brilliant future classical performers. In addition to its four professional-quality annual concerts and biennial international tours, members dedicate significant time and resources to inspiring greater Boston communities through youth music education and elder care. With Music Director Federico Cortese, an entirely student-run board, a 100+ member symphonic roster, and an engaged alumni base of more than 2,800, the orchestra strives for musical excellence and community enrichment at home and abroad.

The Harvard–Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) is a collegiate symphony orchestra comprising Harvard students and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in March 1808 as the Pierian Sodality, the orchestra is considered by some the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. Others dispute this because of the organization's somewhat informal beginnings (the original charter states that the intent of the Pierian Sodality is to "perform music for the enjoyment of others as well as serenade young women in the square"), and because at one point in its history, the Pierian Sodality was reduced to only one member, a flutist named Henry Gassett.[1] As a result, some consider the New York Philharmonic the oldest American orchestra. The HRO assumed its current form as a modern symphony orchestra during the first half of the 20th century and was briefly the nation's largest collegiate orchestra.