We are looking forward to another year of music-making at Bangor, under the baton of Joe Cooper. The Bangor University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus sit with the Dept of Arts, which is part of the School of Arts, Culture and Language. We warmly welcome new and returning members. Details of the membership fees are given below: students who join one of the two University ensembles can join the other for a reduced membership fee.
Typically there are four concerts each year, two given by the Orchestra and two by the Choir and Orchestra. The programme for 2025/26 is as follows:
- Monday, 24 November 2025: Brahms, Symphony no. 1; Greig, Peer Gynt suite
- Saturday, 9 December 2025: Christmas concert
- Saturday, 7 March 2026: Menai Bridge Anniversary Concert (including Vaugh Williams Symphony no. 1)
- TBC (April) 2026: A Night at the Movies
University Symphony Chorus
Singing in a choir is both healthy and intellectually stimulating, and our rehearsals offer a great way to make new friends. All students, staff and members of the community are welcome to join, regardless of previous choral experience. There are no auditions.
Rehearsals take place every Wednesday evening at 7.30pm in the PJ Hall.
The membership fee for the 2025/26 season is £75 for non-students and £15* for students. You can sign up HERE.
Apply to join the bu Symphony Chorus
Please note that new and returning members will need to sign up via this link.
* Students can join both USO and the Chorus for the flat fee of £15.
University Symphony Orchestra
Bangor University Symphony Orchestra is north-west Wales’s premier full-size orchestra, with a membership made up of students and staff from across the University, along with the very best instrumentalists from the surrounding area. The Orchestra rehearses every Monday evening at 7.15pm in the PJ Hall.
We seek string players who are minimum grade 6-8 standard. We seek wind players of around grade 8 standard.
Auditions for front desks and for wind players are normally held in Welcome Week.
The membership fee for the 2025/26 season is £60 for non-students and £15* for students. You can sign up HERE.
Apply to join the University Symphony Orchestra
Please note that new and returning members will need to sign up via this link.
* Students can join both USO and the Chorus for the flat fee of £15.
University Chamber Choir
Bangor University Chamber Choir, under the direction of Dr Guto Pryderi Puw, is a small group of up to 20 singers that performs music from the Renaissance to the present day,
and gives regular concerts in Bangor and other locations in North Wales. It rehearses every Thursday at 7.30pm in Mathias Hall in the Music Building. See their performance of All That’s Past and The Lord is my Shepherd at the Gala Concert in 2019.
New members are auditioned and you can apply to join HERE.
Apply to join the University Chamber Choir
Specialist ensembles
The Department of Music also runs a range of specialist ensembles, including an opera group, an early music ensemble, and the Bangor New Music Ensemble. If you would like to express an interest in taking part in any of these ensembles, please contact Bethan Brown.
The Music Society
The Music Society (Musoc) is a student organization whose year-round activities include an Orchestra (rehearsals every Tuesday evening at 7.30 during term time), a Choir (rehearsals every Friday evening at 7.30 during term time), lunchtime and evening concerts, and many social events. Membership is open to all without audition, and you are warmly invited to come along to the open rehearsals in Welcome Week. For more information please see HERE.
Apply to join the University Music society
Other performing groups
Other societies affiliated to the Students’ Union include the Concert Band, the Brass Band, the Jazz Band, the String Orchestra, a musical theatre society (SODA), a Welsh-language choir (Aelwyd JMJ), the Acapella Society, the Film Society, the Folk Society (Cadi Ha), a Welsh-language drama and literature society (Cymdeithas John Gwilym Jones), two English-language drama societies (BEDS and ROSTRA), the Circus Society (Cirque du Soc), and BU Dance – alongside many more! Please visit the SU website for more information, or visit the societies’ stands at Serendipity on Wednesday of Welcome Week.
Note: Experience Points are awarded for participation in all of these ensembles as part of the Bangor Employability Award.
Bangor University Community Orchestra
meets eight times a year for a full day of orchestral playing. Instrumentalists of all standards are welcome to join. More information can be found at the Bangor University Online Shop. You can join HERE.