Urbana Pops Orchestra

Watch UPO's performance of Georges Bizet: Overture to "Carmen."

Stephen Larson, conductor

Also at the June 14 concert, a mariachi band made a guest appearance. The group combined members from the Mariachi Tigres de Urbana, which consists of students from Urbana Middle School and Urbana High School, with musicians from a local adult group, both led by Tamra Gingold, Edgar Guitierez and Leo Castro. 

Gingold is Urbana High School Orchestra/All-City Strings Director and Urbana Pops educational coordinator and principal violinist.

James Yan, a rising junior at University Laboratory High School in Urbana, was the 2025 winner of the Chambana International Music Competition Concerto Division. He performed Camille Saint Saëns' Concerto No. 2 in G minor on piano along with the orchestra. 

Watch the performance on UPO's YouTube channel.

El concierto de verano de la Orquesta Urbana Pops, Circus Kaleidoscope, se llevará a cabo en el auditorio de la Preparatoria Urbana a las 7 p. m. el sábado 14 de junio. El concierto es gratuito, dura menos de 90 minutos y presentará clásicos divertidos y conocidos.

UPO's Rags to Rhapsody concert featured music feature music from the musical Ragtime, a preview of the cast of Oliver!, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with pianist Kavinder Patel. 

UPO's Happily Ever After concert featured music with a storybook theme that included the Hansel und Gretel Overture by Englebert Humperdinck.

On June 11, 2022, we celebrated Illinois with music. Relive the concert on UPO's YouTube channel.