Who are we?

Urbana Pops Orchestra is a locally-grown, 65-piece ensemble composed of music educators, college music majors, and seasoned community musicians sharing their music stands with talented youth musicians who audition for a unique music-making opportunity.  Urbana Pops' goal is to bring high-quality, popular orchestral music to the community at little or no cost and to nurture talented young musicians.

UPO: Our Brief History

In the summer of 2009, a group of local musicians gathered under the baton of Daniel Southerland (then a junior music education major at Millikin University) to accompany the Urbana Summer Youth Theatre production The Sound of Music.  The audience was stunned at the high quality of the orchestra music, and after discussion with key community members, the idea for a pops orchestra was born.

In a proposal to the Urbana Park District, the UPO leadership of Daniel Southerland and Stephen Larson (the 2009 musical's director) outlined a plan for an orchestra that would bring students together with local professional musicians for a professional-sounding yet educational experience.  In the spring of 2010, the orchestra was born: a plan for its first season was drafted, a web site was built, and players were recruited.

With only two summer seasons and a holiday concert under our belt, we're still a relatively new orchestra.  In our first season we captured our audiences with a movie-themed concert (highlighting how important classical music remains in our lives today) and a Broadway-themed concert.  We continue to function as the UPD musical's pit orchestra, and hope to keep offering free concerts at Lincoln Square in addition to the necessary paid concerts to keep us funded.

We hope you'll join us for what lies ahead - come on out to any of our exciting concerts in the future and help write the next chapter for the Urbana Pops Orchestra!