The student orchestra of Aachen (ASO) was founded by a student initiative in 1989. It is one of three orchestras in Aachen where students and other young people can participate and play music together: The Collegium Musicum (the official orchestra of the RWTH), the young symphonic orchestra of Aachen and the ASO. The great number of amateur orchestras is not surprising, considering that Aachen is home to more than 40.000 students, most of them in the faculties of engineering, medicine and natural science. These orchestras not only enable students to follow their hobbies but also offer a wide range of classical music and numerous concerts every year not only for students, but for all residents of Aachen and the surrounding cities.
The ASO itself consists of about 80 musicians, mostly students of the “RWTH University” and the “University of Applied Science”. These students all share a strong interest in music and welcome the orchestra as a free time activity to balance their workload at university. We therefor try to perform our programs without hiring professional musicians as temporary staff.
We prepare a new program each semester and give two end of term concerts. The program is proposed and chosen by the members of the orchestra. Happily, due to an unusually big cast, we are able to perform large orchestral works that one would otherwise seldom have the opportunity to participate in as an amateur musician.
In addition to these concerts, we occasionally take part in smaller projects with other local musicians, visit international music festivals or, in 2013 for the first time, take part in the Chorbiennale in Aachen.