I have a question about music at Purdue. My son is an advanced violin player and would like to continue orchestra at Purdue. Any insight into the orchestra program, performance halls, reputation etc. there is appreciated. He is not interested in majoring in music, more interested in CS, but would like to continue to play with serious students. Thank you.
Purdue has two orchestras. The Symphony Orchestra is for those who have orchestra experience and the Philharmonic is for the more advanced player. It seems STEM students are often strong musicians. Both orchestras are pretty large. Orchestra is a class, I believe a two hour course, so it can be a good way for a musician to get some down time. My D was in the State Orchestra in HS and played in both orchestras at Purdue. It wasn’t a matter of talent it was due to scheduling. She enjoyed it and found the Philharmonic plenty challenging. They play in a few differnt venues ranging from a performance hall in downtown Lafayette, a smaller but still good sized theater at Purdue to Elliot Hall. Her sophomore year the Orchestra (a combination) too a spring break trip to Spain. They played in Madrid and Barcelona. There is no music major at Purdue so the orchestras are just made up of student musicians. It sounds like exactly what your son would enjoy.
Here is the link to the Purdue orchestras: https://www.purdue.edu/bands/ensembles/orchestras/.
To perform with the orchestra he will have to audition: https://www.purdue.edu/bands/fall-2018-auditions/. This appears to be done at STAR in the summer.