History

The University of Limerick Orchestra was established by cellist Anne Ross in 1991 at the request of the then president of UL, Dr. Edward Walsh. The Orchestra very quickly grew from 10 people, who rehearse in the basement of Plassey House, and gave its first concert as the University of Limerick Chamber Orchestra on June 23rd 1992.

Over a period of several years, the Orchestra expanded to Concert Orchestra size and so the word ‘Chamber’ was dropped from it title, it becomes the University of Limerick Orchestra. It was at this stage that the University made a very generous gift to the Orchestra of the timpani and percussion instruments, which are essential for the performance of larger works.

In January 1993 the orchestra performed to a capacity audience in the University Concert Hall (UCH), becoming the first orchestra to perform in that venue. A pattern of 2 – 4 concerts per year was then established, two of these being the ‘Christmas Concert’ and the ‘UL Prom’, both in the University Concert Hall, with outside venues including Ennis, Listowel, Adare, Kilkenny and the Belltable (Limerick).

Over the years, the ULO has benefited from working with well known and highly experienced conductors, including Iosef Calef, Ronan O’ Reilly, Michael Lynch and John Davis. Our current conductor is Michael John Ryan, who has been with the Orchestra since 2004.

© 2007-2009 University of Limerick Orchestra