"ORSO - The Rock Symphony Orchestra" started life in 1992 as a 17-strong school orchestra. Today it is a vast body of sound, comprising almost 200 members. ORSO performances present interpretations of rock classics, conquering the audience's senses through rich scoring and an impressive light-show.

The combined forces of a substantial symphony orchestra with an integrated symphonic windband, rock-band, a large mixed choir and soloists from the realms of opera and pop guarantee a scintillating experi-ence.

Classic numbers by Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen and others are transformed into symphonic tone poems; original material by rock legends such as Jim Morrison, Freddy Mercury, Eric Clapton and others is intertwined with classical idioms. Pink Floyd meets Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Mahler influences Led Zeppelin, The Kinks rub shoulders with Maurice Ravel...

Passages where the orchestra, choir and band all work together are contrasted with sections where the main focus is on one of these elements. One minute you're lulled by purely symphonic passages, the next you're being propelled towards the finale by the full force of the orchestra and rockband combined. The choir can change gear from rock-anthem style to a dramatic opera chorus that transcends the orchestral accompaniment, while towards the end of the number, you're just as likely to hear its metamorphosis into a gospel choir, where the singers' voices blend into the rhythms of the orchestra and band.

ORSO, this sound and light experience, is fully self-managed and self-financing.

Most of its members are youngsters, students from local high schools, colleges and universities alongside others in vocational training and apprenticeships.

The average age of orchestra members is around 25, while the choir is truly a mixed one, not just in terms of the range of voices but also as the age of its members goes, but what they all have in common is that they're young at heart.

ORSO brings together not just a huge range of instruments and musical styles, but among its members and within its audiences, all ages, social groups and educational levels are represented.

Classical music purists become rock fans, techno freaks discover so-called "serious" music.

The ten members of the ORSO management team, together with their five office assistants, are con-stantly at work to find new niches and directions for the project.

Well-known companies are brought in at the concert venues to fine-tune and manage the sound systems, balance, the lightshow and huge stage mechanisms. Nevertheless, the actual logistics of planning a con-cert from start to finish, including transport, the setting up and taking apart of the stage, and other essen-tial activities and jobs, are in the hands of the ORSO members themselves.

Following a rapid development and a fantastic reception both from audiences and in the press, ORSO is now seeking to make a name for itself outside its home region.

With the support of the public and private sector, together with its own finances, ORSO's aims for the new millennium are to perform in Germany's larger urban centres and go on a foreign tour.

With a view to successful collaborative projects in the near future, ORSO is keen to cultivate links with other youth orchestras, cultural bodies and private enterprises and companies.

ORSO would like to thank everyone who has in some way contributed to bringing this unique project into being.