BUILDING BRIDGES THROUGH MUSIC
The DC Concert Orchestra Society offers a full range of member support services and musical opportunities from casual play-ins to skilled chamber and orchestral performances for non-professional adult musicians. We advance and celebrate our diverse musical heritage through our programming, our people, and our audiences across the metropolitan region to share in a lifetime of music.
Our Commitment
DCCOS seeks to build bridges through music by welcoming and serving members and audiences of all communities. Our programs draw on traditional, modern and contemporary genres with a focus on music that has been overlooked in the past, and emerging talent who will shape the future of classical music. We bring these programs to neighborhoods throughout the region to inspire established constituencies and engage a new generation. Whether you are a musician or a fan, we invite you to join us in this commitment.
CONCERT ORCHESTRA
One of Washington’s finest volunteer, non-professional, full symphony orchestras. The DC Concert Orchestra performs several concerts per year, with a focus on emerging and overlooked composers.
CHAMBER MUSIC
An alliance of advanced, non-professional adult musicians with a passion for chamber music. DC Chamber Musicians membership offers music education, professional coaching, public concerts, and more.
MEETUP GROUP
Classical Musicians of Metro-DC is an area network of hundreds of adult musicians seeking casual, non-competitive opportunities for musical fellowship through home-hosted rehearsals and open house events.
THE HISTORY OF DCCOS
DCCOS traces its roots back to 2007 with a social media group focused on gatherings of amateur chamber musicians for casual rehearsals, today’s Classical Musicians of Metro DC (CM•MDC). In late 2011, an aspiring conducting graduate student, Rob Goeke, asked whether he might try to form a chamber orchestra from among the membership. Thus, the orchestra’s modest beginnings. Rob left the orchestra in November 2012 and it continued through 2013 as a modest reading community chamber orchestra.
In January 2014, Randall Stewart was selected to lead the DC Concert Orchestra (DCCO) as Music Director, and under his baton, the orchestra has transformed spectacularly into an 80-piece full symphony orchestra, performing at levels in league with the best of metropolitan area non-professional orchestras.
In 2016, DCCOS established a partnership with the New Orchestra of Washington and later secured major funding from the Nadia Sophie Seiler Memorial Fund to reinvigorate its chamber music roots by establishing musician development and performance programs. From this, a new DCCOS program component – the DC Chamber Musicians (DCCM) – was chartered.
Today’s DCCOS includes hundreds of member musicians across its 3 program offerings and, per season, produces multiple orchestra concerts, chamber music concerts, and outreach performances.
WHAT WE DO
PUBLIC CONCERTS
As a part of DCCOS, DCCO and DCCM offer high-quality classical orchestral and chamber music concerts in beautiful, historic venues in Washington, DC and nearby jurisdictions.
CHAMBER MUSIC COACHING
In preparation for concert performances, DCCM members receive coaching from engaging, highly qualified area professionals.
PARTNERSHIPS
Through various partnerships, funds and programs, DCCOS enriches its members and engages with the community through educational programming, special performances, and fundraising efforts.
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”