Balancing hobbies with college life can be a struggle. Whether it’s a sport you’ve played for years or an instrument you were forced to practice — but secretly loved — it’s easy to let go after moving away from home.

However, a group of University students have devised a creative way to keep your artistic side intact.

“The film score idea took off because a bunch of us wanted to play John Powell,” said Julia Olson, sophomore in FAA. “I wish the reason was more interesting, but that was the reason.”

Film Score Orchestra was created last fall by Olson, the group’s music director and co-president, and her friends after a scholarship dinner conversation about music. After discovering that many of them played instruments, they thought, why not start their own group?

Completely student-run, FSO consists of student musicians, composers and conductors across approximately 40 different majors, according to Olson. The group rehearses once a week for two hours at a reasonable time for busy students of all majors. 

“It’s become this awesome group that brings together so many different majors and people on campus — especially people who don’t have time to play in a major ensemble, just because that’s a huge commitment,” Olson said.

The 60-plus students involved work tirelessly to select, arrange and practice the music performed by the group. One of these students is Alex Kim, freshman in LAS who double majors in chemistry and molecular and cellular biology. Despite his busy schedule, Kim serves as FSO’s concertmaster.

“People make the time to come here, and that already shows commitment,” Kim said. “They put in the work during rehearsals. I see everyone doing their part.”

According to Olson, work for the group starts long before rehearsals begin. Once the group collectively decides what to play, FSO’s student composing team creates parts and writes the musical arrangement. 

“Everything is hand-arranged,” Kim said. “People had to do this by hand; you can tell they put a lot of time into it. These are really well-written. Everyone has really good parts.”

What makes FSO different, even for music students who spend all day playing their instrument, is that all the music comes from popular films. Last semester consisted of action-packed music from “Star Wars,” “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Avengers.”

This semester, in Olson’s words, is “kind of for the girls,” including hits from “La La Land” and some Disney princess classics. The group’s upcoming concert is set for March 6 in Smith Recital Hall.

Rehearsals are also student-led. This gives anyone, regardless of academic major, the opportunity to conduct a full ensemble. 

“I got to conduct a piece last semester, and it was a lot of fun,” said Abby Cunico, freshman in FAA. “I really enjoyed doing it because I’ve never conducted an orchestra before, and I’ve never played in an orchestra before, so getting to play in one was also really fun.”

The popularity of the new ensemble became evident quickly, as Olson described the surrealness of seeing FSO come to life last fall — in the comically small venue of the Harding Band Building.

“I walked around at the first FSO concert last semester, and I was just in shock because I was like, ‘Oh, this actually happened, and this is real, and we’re here,’” Olson said. “We must have had at least 100 people watching. There were people sitting on the floor of Harding.”

Creating a new RSO isn’t easy. Olson and Cunico detailed the effort that went into building the group, including working over breaks and cooperating with the University to get a space for rehearsal. 

However, the result was worth it. Olson encouraged students wanting to start a new RSO to “go for it,” while Cunico mentioned how easily a mutual passion can come to life.

“Find people that share an interest with you, see what strengths you have, combine them together and create something,” Cunico said.

FSO provides a valuable opportunity for students — a way to stay involved with music without needing to dedicate hours every day to an ensemble. Kim laid out a clear message: Just because you don’t study music in college doesn’t mean you have to let it go completely.

“I feel like a lot of non-music majors tend to drop their music journey, which is really sad,” Kim said. “I know people from my school that go here; they’ve been playing the violin for like 13 years, and they drop it. You need to find something that keeps your interest, and I think FSO is a really fun way to do it.”

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