The Reno Chamber Orchestra was established in 1974 as a collaboration between founding Music Director and Conductor Vahe Khochayan and a group of musician colleagues playing in casino showroom orchestras. The first performance was held on December 15, 1974 at The Reno Musician's Union hall, then located at 124 W. Taylor street, in what we now call Midtown. Click here to see our very first concert program.

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Across the landscape of 50 memorable seasons, the Reno Chamber Orchestra has flourished, now boasting 6 regular season concert sets each year, a renowned chamber music festival, community partnerships that build pathways for access to classical music for all, and starting in 2024, a re-imagined concerto competition named for our founding conductor, Vahe Khochayan. 

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The RCO and NCMF have hosted thousands of musicians in our illustrious history, and are noted for welcoming world renowned musicians and celebrities too numerous to name, some favorites include: Leonard Nimoy, Itzhak Perlman, Toni Tennille, Noah Bendix-Balgley and Robert Levin. 

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In July of 2021 the Reno Chamber Orchestra welcomed it's third Music Director, Kelly Kuo. The first dedicated NCMF Artistic Director, Clive Greensmith, began leading the festival in January 2019.