The UMBC Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble of 50-70 musicians, performs standard orchestral literature from the 18th through 20th centuries. Recent performances have included symphonies of Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Dvorak, as well as concerto performances (Brahms, Mozart, R. Strauss, Elgar) with visiting artist soloists. In addition, members of the Orchestra can choose to enter an annual competition to appear with the Orchestra as soloist. The Orchestra has also performed music commissioned from living composers.

Membership is open to any student (music major or non-major) or other member of the community by audition. Please contact Dr. Richards for further information ( emrichards@umbc.edu ).

E. Michael Richards - conductor

Upon the retirement of Wayne Cameron after 20 years as conductor of the UMBC Symphony Orchestra, E. Michael Richards assumes the position of Conductor beginning in the Fall of 2007. Dr. Richards has more than 25 years of conducting experience, serving as Assistant Conductor with the La Jolla Civic Orchestra ( San Diego ), woodwind coach with the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra and Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Conductor of the Bowdoin College Orchestra, and Conductor of the Hamilton College Orchestra for 17 years. He has also guest conducted the Syracuse Society for New Music.

At Hamilton , Richards led the Orchestra on 6 concert tours, including one by invitation of the governments of Romania and Bulgaria to tour those countries for 14 days. The Orchestra performed with internationally renowned bassist Bertram Turetzky; virtuoso performer of the koto, Nanae Yoshimura; cello soloist Zuill Bailey; and commissioned and premiered works by 7 American and Japanese composers. The Orchestra and Richard Boulanger's work were featured on Syracuse CBS TV (Channel 5 News), and in an article by the Associated Press. Masataka Matsuo's work was recorded by the Orchestra for an Opus One CD (released Feb. 1996). A review in Fanfare Magazine stated: " Hamilton College is a small liberal arts school of only 1650 students; for them to field a seventy-piece symphony orchestra that can handle such a complex modern work is a staggering achievement."

As a clarinetist, Richards has premiered over 150 works at performances throughout the US , Japan , Australia , and Western Europe . Trained at the New England Conservatory (B.Mus.) and Yale School of Music (M.Mus.), Richards earned a Ph.D. at the University of California , San Diego . He received a 1990 U.S./Japan Creative Artist Fellowship (sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, and Japanese Government Cultural Agency) as a solo recitalist (clarinet, conducting) for a six-month residency in Japan; a NEH Summer Fellowship to study traditional Japanese music; a residency grant (Cassis, France) from the Camargo Foundation to complete a book - The Clarinet of the Twenty-First Century ; and a Second Prize at the 2004 Research Competition of The International Clarinet Society (clarinet music of Akira Nishimura) . Richards has performed as concerto soloist with the Syracuse Symphony and Shinsei Japan Philharmonic ( Tokyo ), in chamber music performances with the Cassatt Quartet and Ying Quartet, and in recital at more than a dozen international festivals, as well as at the American Academy in Rome , and the Tokyo American Center . He has also performed as a member of the Tanosaki-Richards Duo (with pianist Kazuko Tanosaki) since 1982. He is currently an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Maryland , Baltimore County (UMBC). Richards has recorded on the NEUMA, Mode, CRI, Ninewinds, and Opus One labels.