Auditions: Which Orchestra Should I Audition For?
MYS has three full orchestras (strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion) and one string orchestra (strings only). Check the audition requirements on your instrument for each orchestra and to determine your playing level. Please note that regardless of which conductor hears your audition, you will be placed in the orchestra best suited to your abilities. Please also remember that auditions are a competitive process!
Following are general descriptions of each orchestra and MP3 samples (you may need a free download of RealPlayer, Windows Media Player or QuickTime to listen):
Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Manny Laureano (collegiate level)
Literature includes works with artistic challenges for the collegiate-level player. Sectionals explore, in-depth, the interpretive and more complex aspects of orchestral music. Students in this orchestra also spend time sight-reading orchestral literature at each rehearsal. Compositions are commissioned and premiered. The annual Symphony Solo Competition, open only to students in this orchestra, features the winning soloist in concert with the Symphony Orchestra. String seating is rotated each trimester. Brass, woodwind and percussion usually rotate from piece to piece.
Symphony Orchestra repertoire:
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring; Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 3; Respighi’s Pines of Rome; Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture; Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra; Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis; Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique; Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue; Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2; Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe; Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade
Repertory Orchestra, conducted by Claudette Laureano (advanced level)
This full orchestra is for the advanced player. A broad mix of unedited literature challenges students as they refine advanced playing techniques in sectionals and full rehearsal. Sight-reading sessions are also included in this orchestra. String seating is rotated each trimester. Brass, woodwind and percussion seating usually rotate from piece to piece.
Repertory Orchestra repertoire:
Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain; Copland’s Outdoor Overture & Rodeo; Bizet’s selections from Carmen Suites Nos. 1 & 2; Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture; Williams’ “Hymn to the Fallen” from Saving Private Ryan and “Duel of the Fates” from The Phantom Menace; Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 & Swan Lake; Rossini’s Overture to William Tell; Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony)
Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jim Bartsch (advanced intermediate level)
This full orchestra includes all instruments. Literature is a combination of arranged and unedited works designed to expose students to a diverse selection of orchestral music. Rehearsal includes sectionals that break out the strings from the brass, woodwinds and percussion, enabling students to work out problems specific to their instrument and explore the musical nuances that enhance the overall orchestration. String seating is rotated each trimester; brass, woodwind and percussion rotate from piece to piece.
Philharmonic Orchestra repertoire:
Walton’s Crown Imperial March; Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld; Stravinsky/Isaac’s Dance Infernale and Berceuse & Finale; Badelt/Rickett’s Pirates of the Caribbean; Sibelius’ Finlandia; Verdi’s “Anvil Chorus” from Il Travatore; von Suppe’s Light Cavalry Overture; Gliere’s Russian Sailor’s Dance; Elgar’s Pomp & Circumstance No. 1
String Orchestra, conducted by Pat Kelly (intermediate level)
Provides intermediate string players with a comprehensive ensemble experience. All String Orchestra students receive weekly theory and ear-training lessons. Literature is selected to broaden repertoire and learn more advanced techniques of following a conductor. Specific bowing techniques, such as spiccato, martelé, hooked bowings and legato, are included. Orchestral intonation is also covered. Students learn to work through difficult passages and deal with problems specific to their instrument.
String Orchestra repertoire:
Handel/Green’s Little Fugue; Del Borgo’s Russian Folk Dance; Gliere’s Russian Sailor’s Dance; Britten’s Simple Symphony; Grieg’s Two Elegiac Melodies; Biber’s Battalia; Vivaldi’s Gloria in D Major; Bach’s Cantana: “Wachet auf”