A Collaborative Partnership between Northern Virginia Community College and the Reunion Music Society

Support the NOVA Symphony Orchestra. To place a paid advertisement in a future concert program or to make a tax-deductible donation in support of the activities of the NOVA Symphony Orchestra, please visit the Reunion Music Society’s Donate page: DONATE HERE!

Spring 2025 Chamber Concert
— 4:00 p.m., Saturday, June 7, 2025, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Springfield

Summer 2025 Pops Concerts: Musical Stories for Summer
— Sunday, July 20, 2025, 4:00 p.m., Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 5114 Twinbrook Road, Fairfax, Virginia 22032
— Wednesday, July 23, 2025, 7:30 p.m., Fine Arts Building, Room 118, Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus
— Friday, July 25, 2025, 7:30 p.m., Mason District Park in Annandale.

TICKETS for our classical concerts are available both at the door and in advance either online or from any member of the orchestra.

General Admission – $20.00
Non-NOVA Students – $15.00
NOVA Students and Children 12 and under – Free

Fall 2025 Classical Concert:
— To be announced.

In early 1994, the Reunion Music Society, Inc. (RMS) and NVCC President Richard J. Ernst formed a partnership that created the NOVA-Annandale Symphony Orchestra as the Orchestra-in-Residence at the Ernst Cultural Center on the Annandale Campus.

In 2021, the orchestra was renamed the NOVA Symphony Orchestra in recognition of its expanded role serving the entire Northern Virginia Community College. It now uses the new Fine Arts building on the Alexandria Campus as its base for rehearsals and collaborates closely with the Music Department there.

The NOVA Symphony Orchestra is a high-level orchestra composed of volunteer players from the DC metropolitan area. We are a mix of student, adult, and professional musicians. The orchestra uniquely serves our community in several ways:

• It affords community musicians the opportunity to play in a full symphony orchestra, playing at an advanced level.
• It brings high-quality programs to our audiences.
• It provides an ensemble class experience for enrolled Northern Virginia Community College students. The College offers an associate degree in Fine Arts. All members of the orchestra can add value to their experience by enrolling in MUS 148/248 for college credit each semester.
• It creates a venue to discover and present the works of little known composers and offer programs of seldom heard and/or performed music.
• It fosters and promotes music of different cultures and heritages, and programs performances for diverse audiences.
• Orchestra players participate in several other RMS-supported ensembles, including Brass, Chamber Music, and Jazz. The synergy of this mix of activities brings variety to our audiences and provides excellent opportunities for out players to develop their musicianship.

The orchestra has performed works such as:

• Beethoven Symphonies 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
• Brahms – Academic Overture
• Brahms – Symphony No. 1
• Elgar – Enigma Variations
• Holst – The Planets
• Mendelssohn – “Scottish” and “Reformation” Symphonies, Hebrides and Saint Paul Overtures
• Mozart – Symphonies and overtures
• Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade
• Rodrigo – Concerto de Aranjuez (for guitar)
• Rossini – The Barber of Seville
• Sibelius – Finlandia
• Smyth – Overture from “The Wreckers”
• Still – Symphony No. 1 “Afro-American”
• Tchaikovsky – Marche Slave
• Vivaldi – The Four Seasons, Concerto for Four Violins
• Johnston – From Far And Away (commissioned by the Reunion Music Society)
• and many works by Josef Haydn, Leo Delibes, Gilbert and Sullivan, Jules Massenet, Henry Mancini, George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Richard Rogers, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington, James Horner, Eugène Bozza, Leonard Bernstein and many others.

Music Director: Christopher Johnston

President: Bruce Salad

Librarian: Sharon Jones
Assistant: Laura Pilkington

Administrative Section leaders:

• Violin I: Patrick Geddes
• Violin II: Adriana Gonzalez
• Viola: Margie Bassman
• Cello: Sharon Jones
• Bass: Andrew Johnston
• Woodwinds: Mitch Bassman
• Brass: Lou Brundidge
• Percussion: Claiborne T. Richardson, II

Questions? Email NOVA.Symphony.Orchestra@gmail.com

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Information for Active Members: Click here.