The Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra performs the great symphonic orchestra literature, from the early Baroque to the music of today.  Now in the ninth year of its highly successful subscription series, it provides the Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois region with five to six full-length orchestral concerts per year, with nationally and internationally-acclaimed guest artists, and repertoire ranging from Bach and Corelli to contemporary composers Christopher Theofanitis and Jonathan Dove.

Additional free concerts, tours, and educational events are presented by the symphony orchestra each season.  The symphony orchestra has just returned from its first-ever international tour in late May 2009, with a series of very successful concerts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, including a performance on the Great Wall of China.  Its artistic director is Dr. Sara Edgerton of the Department of Music at Southeast. Admission to the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra is by audition only.