The Stanford Symphony Orchestra is one of the America’s leading collegiate orchestras, with a distinguished history dating back to 1891, the year that Stanford University was founded. The SSO has a membership of approximately 100 musicians and presents about ten concerts annually on campus, frequently with outstanding student and faculty soloists as well as renowned visiting artists. Stanford Philharmonia is a chamber orchestra of about 50 musicians that performs concerts in Bing Concert Hall and venues throughout the Palo Alto vicinity. The rosters of both orchestras include extraordinarily gifted young musicians, many of whom were featured on From the Top or were members of NYO-USA, attended top music festivals, and won prestigious competitions throughout the world before arriving at Stanford. The roster of the Stanford Summer Symphony, which is active during June and July, contains Stanford undergrad and graduate students as well as precollegiate students attending Stanford Summer Session and some Bay Area community members. Paul Phillips has conducted all three of these orchestras since his arrival at Stanford in 2017. For further information, visit the Stanford Orchestras website and YouTube channel.

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Guest soloists who have performed with SSO and SP under Paul's baton include flutist Carol Wincenc; violinists Owen Dalby, Robin Sharp, Francisco Fullana, and Caroline Campbell; cellists Christopher Costanza and Stephen Harrison; harpist Annabelle Taubl; alto saxophonist Ricardo Martinez; and pianist Elizabeth Schumann. Guest composers have included Gabriela Lena Frank, Zhou Tian, Danny Elfman, Adolphus Hailstork, and William Perry.

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In March 2022, Paul Phillips led Stanford Philharmonia on a trip to Bermuda, where SP performed three different programs at the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts, and in June 2024, he will lead the Stanford Symphony Orchestra on a two-week concert tour of France that will begin in Paris and end at the Côte d'Azur.

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