Princeton University Orchestra

The Princeton University Orchestra was born in February 1896, with a concert by professional musicians. The modern history of PUO begins with the appointment of the orchestra’s present music director, Michael Pratt, in 1977. Through the fifties and sixties, the ensemble shrank down to as few as thirty students amid “music-is-better-seen-than-heard” mentalities in music academia, as well as insufficient rehearsal and performance spaces on campus. Following Pratt’s appointment to the orchestra’s podium, this downward trend quickly reversed itself into an upwards explosion. In 1984, the orchestra’s home, Alexander Hall, was renovated from a large auditorium into a professional-grade concert hall. Additionally, unprecedented interest in music performance among students, coupled with growth in the overall undergraduate class size and the development of Princeton’s dedicated extracurricular hours (two hours every weekday during which classes are forbidden from meeting), allowed PUO to quickly expand into the large symphonic orchestra of over 100 students that it remains today.

Princeton University Students:

To access your Passport to the Performing Arts - Tiger Tickets, click on the link below, then click on the "Buy tickets" button, and enter your PUID as the promo code.

Passport to the Performing Arts Secret Shop Link(opens in a new tab)