The Chapman Orchestra (TCO)
The Chapman Orchestra (TCO), under the direction of Daniel Alfred Wachs, is widely recognized as one of the premier university ensembles on the West Coast. Nationally acclaimed for its innovation and artistry, TCO has received the prestigious ASCAP Award at the American Symphony Orchestra League Annual Conference for outstanding performances of American music. The Chapman Orchestra was also named a finalist for the American Prize in Orchestral Performance, further affirming the university’s place among the top collegiate music programs in the country.
TCO has earned critical praise from major publications, including the Orange County Register, which called a recent performance “forceful and exuberant by any standard: genuinely inspiring, technically proficient, structurally sound.” That same concert, a sold-out collaboration with the Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra (OCYSO) and international soloists featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the West Coast premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage’s Frieze, was selected as a “Must See” by the Register and a seasonal top pick by the Los Angeles Times. The performance was later featured in the PBS documentary Journey to Joy: Beethoven 9.
TCO has shared the stage with world-renowned artists, including Valery Gergiev, and has partnered with major institutions such as the Pacific Symphony and the LA Opera Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program. Its interdisciplinary collaborations with the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Studies and the Daniel Pearl World Music Days were praised by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel.
TCO has completed an acclaimed survey of Mahler song cycles with baritone Vladimir Chernov and regularly presents contemporary American works through festivals such as the Pacific Symphony’s American Composers Festival and Music Unwound Series. TCO is featured annually in the beloved Holiday Wassail concert with the Chapman University Choirs, broadcast nationwide on PBS stations.
TCO members enjoy exceptional opportunities to work directly with distinguished guest artists through master classes, workshops, and artist residencies. String students in particular have studied with internationally acclaimed musicians and ensembles including the Kronos Quartet, whose members conducted a mini-residency and coached Chapman quartets, as well as the Juilliard String Quartet, Penderecki String Quartet, Sarah Chang, Anne Akiko Meyers, Stefan Jackiw, Richard Yongjae O'Neill, Lucia Micarelli, and Kishi Bashi. Across the Conservatory, students in strings, winds, brass, percussion, and harp benefit from regular interaction with visiting artists through master classes, side-by-side performances, and residency programs, including appearances by renowned performers such as harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, pianist Sergei Babayan, and contemporary ensembles including Brightwork newmusic and the PARTCH Ensemble. These experiences provide TCO musicians with direct mentorship from leading artists and ensembles active on the international concert stage.
Committed to outreach and education, Chapman University Orchestras have performed at national, divisional, and state Music Educator Conferences, including CMEA and the Southern Section Conference. The orchestras tour regularly throughout the West Coast and have appeared internationally in Europe, China, Hong Kong, and Japan.
Closer to home, TCO presents an annual series of concerts at venues such as the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, University Synagogue in Irvine, and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Orange. It also serves as the orchestra-in-residence for Opera Chapman, launching the careers of alumni Ben Bliss, Efrain Solis, Duke Kim and Janai Brugger, furthering Chapman University’s ongoing commitment to excellence in operatic and orchestral training.
A live recording of Milhaud’s La Création du Monde was selected by the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., to accompany the exhibition, Man Ray and the Modernist Lens.
TCO became the first collegiate orchestra in the country to license Disney titles for student performers, producing live film concerts of Beauty and the Beast, Pixar in Concert, and Coco. It also holds a residency at the $83 million Musco Center for the Arts, where it performed an all-Ives and Gershwin concert as part of the Interplay Festival.
Wachs has brought elegance, passion and a golden tone to The Chapman Orchestra, and has infused the OC Youth Symphony with precision and grace. Think of him as Orange County’s Dudamel.
- Orange County Register
Notable Collaborations & Performances:
2018:
Hosted Valery Gergiev and members of the Aiken Institute for a “Chapman Conversation,” moderated by Maestro Wachs.
First collegiate orchestra to license Disney titles for student performers:
Sold-out live film concerts of “Beauty and the Beast,” “Pixar in Concert,” and “Coco.”
2016: Became orchestra-in-residence at Musco Center for the Arts, opening with an all-Ives and Gershwin program for the Third Interplay Festival, a co-festival between Chapman University and the Pacific Symphony.
2014: Collaborated with University Choirs, Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra, and international soloists on:
A sold-out performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the West Coast premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage’s Frieze at Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
Presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.
Selected as a “Must See” by the Orange County Register and a Los Angeles Times spring “top pick.”
Praised by Orange County Register: “Wachs guided the ensemble with energy, precision, and a welcome sense of clarity and poise… forceful and exuberant by any standard.”
2013-14 Season:
Opened with a collaboration with Pacific Symphony as part of the acclaimed “Music Unwound Series.”
2012:
Following a collaboration with the Rogers Center for Holocaust Studies, Elie Wiesel praised TCO for its performance.
2009:
Live recording of Milhaud’s La Création du Monde selected by the Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.) to accompany the exhibit “Man Ray, African Art and the Modernist Lens.”
2008:
First collaboration with Pacific Symphony for the “Eighth American Composers Festival.”
2006–2008:
Completed a survey of Mahler song cycles with baritone Vladimir Chernov.
Began a partnership with the LA Opera Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program.
Awards & Recognition:
Chapman University Orchestras received the prestigious ASCAP Award at the American Symphony Orchestra League Annual Conference for outstanding performances of American music.
Conference & Guest Performances:
Regularly featured at:
Music Educators National, Divisional, State, and Southern Section Conferences.
CMEA Southern Section Conference as featured ensemble.
Tours:
Extensive recruitment performances throughout the West Coast.
Annual Local Performances:
Nixon Presidential Library (Yorba Linda)
University Synagogue (Irvine)
St. John’s Lutheran Church (Orange)
Serves as orchestra-in-residence for Opera Chapman
© 2023-2026 Daniel Alfred Wachs, All Rights Reserved.