Who we are

We are musicians who come together to rehearse and perform orchestral music. We're unique among "community orchestras" because we accept players with a wide range of skill levels, from perhaps "high-school level" to near "professional."

Our history

For fifteen years, the Hewlett-Packard Symphony Orchestra offered a friendly environment for musicians at various skill levels to rehearse and perform. Though the group started within HP, community members were always welcome to participate. That community involvement has now propelled us completely outside of HP. The new South Bay Philharmonic now continues in the HP Symphony tradition as an independent community orchestra.

Our atmosphere

Though we strive to provide the best level of performance possible, we have always offered a low-stress and welcoming environment for all members. (Well, maybe there were one or two exceptions... but really!) Here are some comments from our members:

"The orchestra members are kind and encouraging which makes it easy,
for someone who is new to an orchestra, to learn and grow."

"If it weren't for HPSO, I wouldn't be playing now."

"I feel inspired without feeling overwhelmed."

We prepare two to three "concert sets" per year. Each concert set involves perhaps five or six full-orchestra rehearsals on Monday evenings, preceded by a few weeks of strings-only rehearsals, and then one or two concerts. (Existing members will note this differs slightly from the old HPSO schedule.) You can see our recent schedule here.

How to join

We welcome musicians who play any orchestral instrument at or above a high-school skill level. At present we especially need violas, French horns, and percussionists, but all interested musicians are encouraged to contact us.

Note: We really would prefer that you contact us before coming. It's not that we might not like you. We just want to avoid ending up with eleven piccolos or five tubas!

Dues: We ask our members to pay dues of $20 per concert season (that's typically $40 per year) if possible, which is currently our only only source of funding.