Great Expectations

It seems that almost all of the panelists agree in one way or another that orchestra musicians today must do much more than perform on stage. This subject alone could easily serve as the main topic of a future discussion so I will not go too far in that direction except to say that orchestra musicians could contribute a great deal at the college/conservatory level to educate students on the realities of orchestra life beyond instrumental performance. Dean Undercofler makes a valid point about the long standing curriculum for performance majors and the tenured faculty in place to support that curriculum. New programs to educate students on orchestra life could potentially involve great expense to some schools and could add further to an already loaded curriculum. Perhaps in the beginning, veteran musicians could be brought in from outside the faculty to present informal discussions on this subject. If such talks prove successful, perhaps a formal class could be incorporated into the curriculum for scholastic credit using those same musicians on an adjunct basis.

I agree with James that some parts of the traditional performance curriculum are not really necessary when it comes to winning an audition and maintaining a position. I did really well in “sight-screaming” and “ear-straining” classes but was terrible at theory and had to take classes for three years as a result! I do respect those subjects and those who have devoted their careers to them but for me, they didn’t help much in my own preparation for an orchestral career. I agree further with James that in school there are not nearly enough opportunities for students to gain much needed experience in performance. I think that student orchestras should spend much more time reading standard orchestral literature in rehearsals without an associated performance. Repertoire could be changed each week and if parts were rotated among each instrumental class at each reading rehearsal, everyone would gain experience in a variety of positions. As other panelists have noted, professional orchestras go through tremendous amounts of repertoire in a season and this reality should be reflected in the performance curriculum. Some of this repertoire could be selected for performance but spending weeks to rehearse only one program is not necessary.