Symphonic Orchestra

The Symphony Orchestra is a balanced ensemble of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion students.  All Symphony Orchestra students must also be enrolled in the band or string orchestra class that is appropriate for their level.  Placement in Symphony Orchestra is by each student’s Advanced Class audition, as a  minimum proficiency level is required to ensure a successful experience for all students, as well as to ensure balanced instrumentation due to limited openings for select instruments.

 

The Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Winter and Spring concerts, as well as MPA (Music Performance Assessment).   Students and families are asked to give these performances priority in their calendars, as each member of the ensemble is integral to the success of the team.  Nobody sits on the bench!

 

During rehearsals, the emphasis will be on ensemble skills, including tone quality, intonation, balance, rhythmic precision, articulation, emotional expression, and musical interpretation.  In order to further develop these skills on an individual basis, students are strongly encouraged to study regularly with a private teacher.  

 

Our curriculum will be our performance repertoire, so it will be very important that each player spends individual practice time carefully learning their individual part prior to coming to rehearsals.  While the amount of practice time to accomplish this may vary from student to student, the expectation of thorough preparation is the same for each student.

 

Chair placement will be informed by audition into the student’s respective Advanced String or Band class,, and is at the discretion of the director. Students should expect to rotate chairs periodically as we strive to achieve  both a balanced sound and a strong sense of teamwork in the Symphony Orchestra.​​