TSO announces continued partnership with The University of Tulsa
The partnership between Tulsa Symphony Orchestra (TSO) and The University of Tulsa (TU) will continue in the 2023-2024 season, providing more enriching opportunities and invaluable musical experiences for TU’s School of Music students and ensembles, including two chamber music TSO at TU concerts performed by the musicians of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. This partnership is made possible through the generosity of the David B. Waters Charitable Foundation.
Dr. David B. Waters – radiologist, Air Force veteran, authority on survival medicine and Boy Scouts troop leader, and faithful patron of Tulsa Symphony Orchestra – lived a life as a physician and philanthropist. He actively supported the University of Michigan Medical School, his alma mater, The Boy Scouts of America, The Nature Conservancy, and The University of Tulsa, specifically the School of Music and TURC (Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge). Since his passing in 2016, the David B. Waters Charitable Foundation, under the guidance of David’s longtime friend and trustee Roger Blais, and the administrative supervision of Melissa Taylor of the Trust Company of Oklahoma, has continued to generously fund the organizations that David supported, furthering his legacy of support and advocacy. It was through the pursuit of David’s legacy that the collaboration between Tulsa Symphony and TU was created, merging David’s passions for music and education.
The partnership provides many exceptional resources for students to enhance their learning experience and musical skills. Tulsa Symphony provides the David B. Waters String Quintet to serve at TU as artists-in-residence, serving as mentors, teaching masterclasses for students, and performing recitals, which are free and open to the public. The mentoring program professionally supplements classes and programs, providing students with excellent opportunities for continued professional input, training and development. These resources are not limited to students in the School of Music and are available to all students participating in TU’s instrumental ensembles, regardless of major or program. This year, the partnership provided scholarship assistance for new and current students studying music, through a talent-based scholarship assistance program organized by TU SOMA (School of Music Advocates), a community volunteer support organization of TU alumni, faculty and music enthusiasts.
TSO and TU will host two guest artist Q&As/masterclass events on-campus. These events are free and open to the public and designed to share the opportunity to learn from and interact with working music professionals. The grant provides TSO with a student from the Arts, Culture, and Entertainment Management program to serve as a paid intern, gaining invaluable and unique work experience with the Tulsa Symphony staff, focusing primarily on coordinating and scheduling events and services for the artists-in-residence at TU and learning the many-faceted operational structure of a performing symphony.
The David B. Waters collaboration features two Tulsa Symphony chamber orchestra concerts at the University of Tulsa’s Lorton Performance Center as well. A performance each semester is underwritten by the David B. Waters Charitable Foundation and is open to the public Sunday, October 15, 2023, and Sunday, April 7, 2024, at 3:00 PM. A limited number of free tickets are available for TU students, and tickets for general admission are available online.
Music students are given the exceptional learning opportunity of attending dress rehearsals for the TSO at TU performances, as well as rehearsals for the David B. Waters String Quintet recitals which take place during TU’s weekly recital class to increase student access to professional performance experiences.
