As the music swells around the concert hall, every audience member can feel a sense of magic. This magic is the commitment and passion that USC's Symphony music students bring to their community. When the symphony orchestra plays, it’s more than just a concert; it’s a display of hard work and extreme talent, acting as a bridge for the greater Columbia community to be a small part of what this incredible orchestra does.
The USC Symphony Orchestra is made up of more than 80 talented USC student musicians and is led by Scott Weiss, a music professor and Director of Orchestras here at USC. After leaving the University of Kansas in 2010, Weiss became a part of the USC family. He was drawn in by the School of Music’s impressive reputation and has stayed because of the incredible students. Weiss is also the conductor of the Aiken Symphony, one of many different professional orchestras in South Carolina. Being the director of both a training orchestra and a professional one, Weiss knows exactly how to prepare his students for a professional career.
“At its core, the USC Symphony Orchestra is a training ground for professional musicians,” he said. He does this in several different ways. One way is by giving his students a wide variety of music to play. Unlike a professional symphony, where the bill is usually picked by what will sell the best, Weiss chooses what music the symphony plays based on what will best serve his students. He is less concerned with selling tickets and more focused on giving the students many different experiences with different pieces of music.
“My students need to be really well prepared to go out into the world, and so our concerts tend to have a lot of diversity in our programming,” Weiss said. This also benefits his audience, even if it’s not specifically catered to them. Students who attend these concerts are introduced to a wide variety of music spanning five centuries, from classical to more modern.
Another way he prepares his students for the professional world is through the initial audition process, which mimics a professional audition setting in that it is completely blind.
"The audition is part of the educational process as well, in that it looks like and has a lot of the same repertoire that a professional audition would have," Weiss said.
The faculty sits behind a screen and listens to potential members anonymously. Most professional auditions are done this way, with multiple rounds of cuts, going from 50 people to eight, four and, eventually, to one. This experience prepares students for the professional world; it also cuts out any bias towards certain majors or students with more musical backgrounds.
“I think it's really important when a student walks into an audition that they know that the only thing that matters is how well they play in that audition,” Weiss said. Being a music major is not a requirement to audition, though many members of the orchestra do study music. However, many students have completely different majors, and the blind audition process helps make sure that every student is considered on the same playing field, regardless of their involvement with the School of Music.
All of this hard work on Weiss’s part has paid off. Many students have played or are currently playing in South Carolina-based symphonies, such as the Aiken Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Rock Hill Symphony, Spartanburg Philharmonic and Greenville Symphony. He was also proud to share that several USC Symphony Orchestra alumni have joined the Augusta Symphony, located in Georgia. At least 50 percent, if not more, of the Augusta Symphony are graduates of the USC School of Music.
“We a former student who plays in the San Francisco Symphony, which is one of the world's greatest orchestras,” Weiss said.
Even with all of this success, Weiss repeatedly stated that what he enjoys most about the orchestra is the students themselves and their commitment to their craft.
“I think the really rewarding thing for me at the University of South Carolina, and frankly, why I've decided to make this my home, is that the students in the orchestra really care about the orchestra. They care about each other and they care about the music,” he said.
Weiss also described the sense of belonging and community that the USC Symphony offers. "It's not as common as you might think and like capturing magic on a bottle,” Weiss said. You can feel this sense of community at every concert they put on, and seeing how much they care about what they’re doing makes other students want to care as well. Community engagement has always been important to Weiss, and his adamancy for making concerts free for USC students is a testament to that.
"I wanted the orchestra to be a part of the fabric of the university, part of the culture of The University of South Carolina,” Weiss said. Making concerts free for USC students to attend was the first thing Weiss did as director. “We’re going to find a way for this budget to work and we’re going to kick the doors open for students,” he said.
It would be a waste for USC students not to take this opportunity to experience the orchestra for free, and given their very special 100th anniversary season, there are some exciting opportunities for students to see them in action. On February 6, Rising Stars took place at the Koger Center, celebrating the winners of the 2024-25 Concerto-Aria Competition, and on April 22, their season culminated with the playing of "Beethoven’s Ninth," also at the Koger Center.
