Our History

“The mission of the Reno Chamber Orchestra is to create intimate, inspirational musical experiences by engaging the community through vibrant music making by the Chamber Orchestra and chamber ensembles.”

The Reno Chamber Orchestra (RCO) came into being in 1974 as a collaboration between founding Music Director and Conductor Emeritus Vahe Khochayan and a group of musician colleagues playing in casino showroom orchestras. Their shared desire to perform classical music led to the Orchestra’s formation under its first Board of Directors in 1976. Audiences have grown substantially over the years, leading the annual events to expand to ten performances of chamber orchestra concerts, multiple smaller chamber events, and since 2004, the nationally-known Nevada Chamber Music Festival (NCMF). Some of the world’s most famous performers have appeared with the RCO, including Leonard Nimoy, Itzhak Perlman, and Pepe and Angel Romero. The RCO has been named one of the Best of Reno and Best Performing Arts Group, and five RCO musicians have received the prestigious Governor’s Award for Artistic Achievement. 

Maestro Theodore Kuchar- the RCO’s second Music Director and founder of the Nevada Chamber Music Festival- departed the organization in the spring of 2018. This led to the formation of a Search Committee of longtime donors, musicians and community members. While a field of almost 150 conductors has been narrowed to six RCO Music Director finalists, the committee separately chose the first ever NCMF Artistic Director. The renowned cellist and chamber musician, Clive Greensmith, had been a previous artists and is now entering his second year leading the festival during the holiday season. Four of the six Music Director candidates conducted RCO programs last season, while the last two finalists have been postponed to the coming fall. Once all six have been fairly considered the organization plans to announce its third Music Director in almost half a century, who will assume that role in the 2021-22 Season.