The University of Cologne Symphony Orchestra brings together 70–90 instrumentalists—primarily students, but also staff and alumni—to make music together. During weekly rehearsals and rehearsal weekends, the ensemble works on challenging pieces, which are traditionally performed at the end of the semester. The symphonic programs alternate with works for choir and orchestra. Whenever the Collegium musicum’s scheduling allows, orchestra members are involved in selecting the pieces. In recent years, the orchestra has performed, among other works, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 1, Dvořák’s Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, while also providing a platform for young instrumental soloists with Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. Time and again, the programs focus not only on the classical repertoire but also on works from the 20th and 21st centuries, including world premieres of contemporary works. The anniversary year of 2019, during which the 100th anniversary of the New University of Cologne was celebrated, was a year full of highlights for the orchestra. At the beginning of the year, the orchestra prepared a challenging program of works by Russian composers, combined with the world premiere of a Debussy arrangement penned by Axel Freimuth, then rector of the university. The ensemble then delighted its audience twice at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall together with the choir—in June with the concert version of Gershwin’s *Porgy and Bess* and in November with Giuseppe Verdi’s *Messa da Requiem*. After the pandemic, the orchestra returned to the stage in the summer of 2022 with Camille Saint-Saëns’ *Danse macabre* and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7. In June 2023, the University of Cologne Choir and Symphony Orchestra traveled to Utrecht and, together with the USKO (Utrecht Student Choir and Orchestra), presented Brahms’s Requiem at TivoliVredenburg and later at the HfMT Cologne. Most recently, the symphony orchestra performed César Franck’s Symphony in D minor in January 2024 and Mendelssohn’s *Elias* in July 2024 at MEDIO.RHEIN.ERFT Bgerheim and the Gürzenich in Cologne.