Franciscan Chamber Orchestra

Glorify God Through the Beauty of Music

The Franciscan Chamber Orchestra welcomes instrumentalists, singers, and composers who seek to put their art at the service of the new evangelization.

Open to all Franciscan University students and musicians in the Steubenville area, the orchestra performs masterworks of the Western tradition along with multimedia and multi-genre pieces. Members also have opportunities to premiere new compositions.

Admission is by audition only.

Interested in Joining?

The Franciscan Chamber Orchestra welcomes new members each year!

Contact Us

Meet the Director!

 
Headshot of Jake Khym

Stanley Konopka

 

Stanley Konopka has directed Franciscan University’s Chamber Orchestra since 2021 and teaches violin and viola at the University. A member of The Cleveland Orchestra since 1991 and assistant principal violist since 1993, he has also performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and appeared as a soloist with major ensembles including The Cleveland Orchestra and the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra.

An active chamber musician, Konopka has performed with the Miami String Quartet, the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio, and at leading festivals across North America. His acclaimed arrangement of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 3 was performed by The Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst at Carnegie Hall and praised by The New York Times.

He is a longtime faculty member at the Cleveland Institute of Music and guest professor at Baldwin Wallace University. Konopka and his wife, Kathy—a cellist—have two grown children, both Franciscan alumni and professional composers in Nashville.

You can reach out to Stanley at [email protected]