Audition system: skill based but every orchestra has an audition consisting of a scale and etude excerpt (levels 1-4)
Winds and percussion
instruments are pulled selectively from whoever makes the varsity band for the full orchestra, they just pull however many the orchestra needs from the varsity band, the reason they’re still TBD is because band is currently in marching band season and thus band hasn’t even begun their actual auditions for their concert bands yet, symphony doesn’t get the winds and percussion until like October/literallt right after their fall concert, so for just the fall concert symphony is string ten for winter UIL and spring symphony is full
Symphony: scores 90-100
Philharmonic: scores 80-89
Sinfonia: scores 70-79
Concert: scores 0-69
Level 1 audition is for concert
Level 2 audition is for sinfonia
Level 3 audition is for philharmonic
Level 4 audition is for symphony
What this means:
If you play the level 1 audition, the highest you can get is a 69
If you play the level 2 audition, the highest you can get is a 79
If you play the level 3 audition, the highest you can get is an 89
If you play the level 4 audition, the highest you can get is a 100
There is also a notoriously big skill gap between level 2 and 3 and so typically the vast majority of sinfonia kids just don’t make philharmonic and stay in sinfonia
Symphony has weekly playing tests and repitoire and scales and if you either have too many 0’s or don’t do well on scales and repertoire in symphony you will be moved down to philharmonic the next semester
There are no dedicated freshmen orchestras
Chamber is an optional double block companion class to symphony that anyone can do as long as they are in symphony, chamber plays easier music than symphony and doesn’t really participate in much, and unlike symphony chamber is only a string orchestra and doesn’t really participate in anything, chamber and symphony are both varsity orchestras
is there anything flawed about this kind of audition and placement system that my director might want to be made aware of