The spring semester approaches with a success - the GSO now officially owns a tuba! Thanks to everyone's support and contributions to the indiegogo project, we raised $4,623. Some of this extra money will be used to engrave the tuba in the late David Scherr's memory.

This semester, we've decided to forgo our customary orientation/meet & greet event. On Thursday 1/24, we will be hosting a gathering in Memorial Chapel, in memory of David Scherr. That's from 7:00-8:00pm in the main chapel. Anyone in the UM community who would wish to pay their respects to David is invited to join us, not just our members. You are welcome to invite others. We will be sharing memories, unveiling the GSO's brand-new tuba, and maybe singing something appropriate.

We look forward to making this semester a great one for our members and our fans. Event dates will be announced as they are received. See you soon!

On the 24th of December, we received news that one of our members, David Scherr (pictured below holding the Tuba), had been reported missing by the Prince George's County Police. On the 28th, David was found dead in his car, which was parked in a lot near the intersection of Route 197 and Route 450 in Bowie, Maryland. His death is being investigated as a suicide. At the time of this posting, the police have released no further details.

David will be remembered as a beloved member of the GSO. He was an accomplished tubist, a talented arranger (responsible for a well loved medley of themes from Banjo Kazooie), and a good friend. His loss has shaken the ensemble deeply, and our thoughts are with David's family during this difficult time.

Not only is the event you've been waiting since the Spring to see right on the tip of our tongues, but the GSO needs YOUR HELP to buy a Tuba! We've put together a crowdfunding campaign hosted by indiegogo which, with your help, can move the GSO forward to purchasing its very own tuba. Much like the drumset you see on stage, a tuba is a very expensive but very vital instrument to any ensemble's overall sound quality. Visit the GSO Tuba indiegogo page to find out more.

In the unfortunate event that we are unable to reach our goal, all funds raised will go toward the continued rental of the tuba, bringing down the purchase price even further with the hope that we will be able to purchase it sometime in the future. Should we go over our funding goal, all excess funds will go towards our operating costs. It's surprisingly expensive to operate a student-run orchestra. Of our approximately $17,000 yearly operating budget, the UMD Student Government Association funds less than a third of that. The rest of the cost has to be covered by donations from members and fans like you.

Returning to Dekelboum Hall in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, December 1 at 2:00pm, for FREE as always, we'll be playing pieces from some of the classics - Zelda, Kirby, Final Fantasy - as well as some more niche favorites. What are they? You'll just have to come see us to find out!

The Super GSO Bros. Super Show has a new time - Tuesdays from 4pm to 6pm on WMUC's digital channel.

Guess what's finally up, everybody? Our Spring 2012 recordings! You can listen and download them for free here!

Miss GSO's featured blurb on CBS This Morning? Check it out here!

We have stumbled to find the words to properly express our gratitutde for the turnout at our Smithsonian Art of Video Games performance on Sunday, April 29th. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who made it out to see and support us. We hope the experience was as memorable for you as it was for each of our members. Estimates of attendance fall around the 1,100 mark, as seen in the photo to the right - we've never had an audience sit on the floor before!

Full videos of the concert, courtesy our founder Michelle Eng, can be found here. MP3s of this semester's pieces will be available soon on our Listen page, so keep an eye out! Also coming soon, a gallery of photographs captured before, after, and throughout the performance!

The Gamer Symphony Orchestra is a student run ensemble, funded only by the UMD SGA and our generous fans' donations. Please visit our Giving to Maryland page to show your support through a tax-deductible donation!

We look forward to seeing you in the Fall!

We have a radio show! Tune in to hear us on WMUC for the semester, Friday nights/Saturday mornings from midnight to 2 am on the digital channel, which you can listen to on the WMUC website. We'll be playing video game music, discussing music in the game industry, and other fun stuff. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the show, please feel free to email us at umd@gamersymphony.org!

Concert recordings are available here, and a video playlist here, courtesy our founder, Michelle Eng! - Did you take photos or videos? Share them with us at umd@gamersymphony.org! Miss the performance? Take a look at the program here, in a PDF for your convenience.

The GSO had a fantastic time at MAGFest X. Our panel, "Orchestral Game Music and Society", had a decent turnout, and our Jamspace performance had a small but enthusiastic audience.

The best audience we could have asked for, however, was Nobuo Uematsu himself and the Earthbound Papas, for whom a small GSO contingent performed Chris Apple's arrangement of "The Promised Land". View the impromptu performance below!

Many, many thanks to the Earthbound Papas and MAGFest for this spectacular opportunity. We hope you enjoyed having us as much as we enjoyed attending! See you next year at MAGFest 11!