About Us

The University Singers is the flagship choral ensemble of the University of Virginia Department of Music, performing both a cappella and accompanied choral literature, including major works with orchestra. Founded in 1957, the group became a student-dominated ensemble soon after UVA began admitting women in 1970, and they happily celebrated their 60th anniversary with the 2017-2018 season. The University Singers recently joined the Charlottesville Symphony on the steps of the Rotunda to perform at UVA’s Bicentennial Launch Celebration before an estimated crowd of 20,000. In the fall of 2018, the ensemble gave the regional premiere of Bernstein’s Mass at the Paramount Theatre, the group’s largest concert project to date. In recent years, the Singers have also performed for Les Misérables creators Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil during their UVA residencies, sung for the 2016 UVA Holiday video (which received more than 400,000 views on social media), and taken a two-week concert tour of England, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria. Recent repertoire has included Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bach’s Mass in B minor and St. John Passion, Handel’s Messiah, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, the Verdi Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as premieres of commissioned works by Stephen Paulus, Forrest Pierce, Judith Shatin, and Eric Whitacre.

Church pic
The U-Singers performing the first concert of their summer 2019 tour at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Staunton, VA

The Singers have performed on recent U.S. tours in Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Charleston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, Providence, Virginia Beach, and the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., as well as the campuses of other American universities for collaborative concerts. The group has also embarked on previous European tours in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Russia, and Switzerland. Other choral program highlights have included concerts and workshops with Bobby McFerrin and Meredith Monk, a performance for Hillary Clinton, a performance for the 2010 VMEA Conference, a 2012 workshop with members of the Tallis Scholars, a 2014 performance for Philip Glass, and frequent collaborations with the Charlottesville Symphony, including the popular Family Holiday Concerts. 

Students in the University Singers come from UVA's seven undergraduate schools, including Arts and Sciences, Education, and Engineering, as well as several of the University's graduate and professional schools. While approximately 30% are music majors, the ensemble is open to any student by audition and serves as a two-credit curricular class. Together, members enjoy an esprit de corps that arises from the pursuit of musical excellence and the camaraderie the singers develop offstage. The University Singers is led by faculty conductor Michael Slon.