ANNOUNCING THE MSO YOUTH CONCERTO COMPETITION 2025!
NEW: Application deadline extended to October 15, 2025
Do you know a young musician who would like to compete for an opportunity to perform solo with the MSO and receive a cash prize? Please feel free to download and share the competition rules and the application form. The panel of judges will include our music director, Max Hobart, and other expert musicians.
MSO Youth Concerto Competition Rules for 2025
MSO Youth Concerto Competition Application for 2025
MSO Holds Auditions for the Exciting 2025–2025 Season
Do you currently play an orchestral instrument? The Metrowest Symphony seeks players in all sections.
Rehearsals are held Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at Framingham State University’s Dwight Performing Arts Center. Concerts are at the same location.
Season to include Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony, excerpts from Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Beethoven’s piano concerto no. 2, Gershwin’s
Fantasy for alto saxophone, Dvořák’s New World Symphony and more.
Please contact personnel@metrowestsymphony.org and be sure to include your phone number. We look forward to hearing from you!
Summer Strings 2025 Wrap-up
MSO members and community members enjoyed four evenings of music making under Max’s direction, greatly enjoyed by the residents at assisted living facilities in Westborough, Hopkinton, Framingham, and Franklin. Here are some memories:
A bird’s-eye view of the ensemble and audience
Bassoonist Fritz joins in for a little variety
A great way to spend a summer evening–making music with friends
Summer Strings 2025 Closes with Guest BSO’s Victor Romanul
The final Summer Strings event will take place July 29 at Magnolia Heights Senior Living, 485 East Central St., Franklin, MA. 7:00 p.m. Our special guest soloist will be violinist Victor Romanul, freshly retired from a long career with the Boston Symphony. Free and open to all. Please join us!
MSO Welcomes Student Interns from Framingham State
As a way to deepen our relationship with our new home at Framingham State University, the MSO will be working with FSU students to give them practical work experience related to their majors and helpful to the orchestra.
Laura Burke will be working on Marketing and Graphics, and Kristel Erguiza will be writing program notes. We are very excited to begin this phase of our partnership with the university, and grateful to the intern relations office for their assistance.
Announcing Summer Strings 2025!
We’re proud to announce another summer of string music reading sessions open to all players, under the direction of Max Hobart. All ages and ability levels welcome! At each session, the group will first read through some well-chosen pieces, Max will work on them a bit, and then the group will play them “for real.” It’s low-key fun and a way to meet other string players, enjoy good music, and engage with the listening audience at our four senior residences this year. Please bring your own music stand, and come for one evening or all of them. Air-conditioned.
MSO Players to Perform at Framingham State University’s Graduate School Commencement
On May 22, beginning at 5:30 p.m., students in the various graduate schools of FSU will receive their degrees. At the school’s request, a quintet of MSO players will provide live music to begin and end the ceremony. This will be the first of many opportunities to build synergy between orchestra and university.
Music Director and Conductor Max Hobart Profiled in Fifty Plus Advocate
Fifty Plus Advocate is a community newspaper focusing on, well, people who are age fifty plus. If you see it in your local drugstore, library, town hall, or other location where community publications are offered, pick up the February 2025 edition to see an article about Max Hobart. Or go to the paper’s website and read the article there: https://www.fiftyplusadvocate.com/2025/01/31/fifty-plus-advocate-february-2025/ and learn about Max’s early years and why the violin was his second choice of instrument to learn. 🙂
World Première MSO Commission to Be Heard at March 16, 2025, Concert
In honor of the collaboration of the Metrowest Symphony Orchestra with Framingham State University, a new piece by Boston-area composer Richard St. Clair will be performed. The piece is titled Hello! for Orchestra and the MSO is excited to be presenting its première in Dwight Performing Arts Center at FSU with the composer in attendance. For details of the concert, click on the Concerts heading in the main menu.
Richard St. Clair, composer of Hello! for Orchestra
Players from MSO to Perform at the Franklin Library This Winter
Come by the Franklin Public Library on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 2 p.m. for string music selections played by MSO members. This free series is open to all. For details, see the library’s website at https://www.franklinma.gov/franklin-public-library and click on “Calendar of Events” in the left-hand column.
Framingham State Faculty and Students Engaging with MSO
We’re thrilled that faculty member Shinho Kim has joined the violin section, and we have two students intending to join for the next concert. We look forward to many more interactions with the university community and the City of Framingham. More to come!