Publication: A Princeton Companion
Orchestra, University, can lay claim to rudimentary antecedents as far back as June 1791, when a number of student musicians, seated in the belfry of Nassau Hall above the glow of six hundred candles illuminating its facade, entertained the crowd that had gathered to celebrate President Witherspoon's second marriag~e -- with, the United States Gazette reported, ``a most agreeable and delightful concert from different kinds of instruments.''
Almost a century later, a small ``Instrumental Club'' occasionally appeared in concerts with the newly formed Glee Club. Among its early members was flutist Henry B. Fine 1882, later dean of the faculty and of the departments of science.
During their freshman year, the Class of 1890 formed a College orchestra, which flourished until they graduated. Cellist William Shubael Conant 1890 eventually pursued a successful career as a consulting engineer, and on his death in 1952 left the University $250,000 to endow the music professorship that bears his name.
Early in this century, student musicians formed the Orphic Order, which carried on until the outbreak of the First World War. The University Orchestra came into being after the war under the direction of Richard L. Weaver. Since 1935, directors have been arranged for by the music department, among them Harold Berkeley, Moritz von Bomhard, Russell Ames Cook, Nicholas Harsanyi, Robert S. Freeman, Peter. T. Westergaard, Mordechai Sheinkman, Bruce Ferden, and Michael Pratt, who became director in 1977.
One of Princeton's most memorable concerts took place in May 1973, when the University Orchestra, conducted by Peter Westergaard, and accompanied by a chorus prepared by Walter Nollner, performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony before an enthusiastic audience that filled Alexander Hall to overflowing.
In recent years, as the opportunities for music study at Princeton have become more widely known, a steady increase in the number of highly qualified undergraduate instrumentalists has brought new strength to the University Orchestra and the programs it can offer.
From Alexander Leitch, A Princeton Companion, copyright Princeton University Press (1978).