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  Orchestra


    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
Photographs copyrighted Texas A&M Orchestras

The orchestra at Texas A&M University is the newest musical ensemble on campus, becoming a class in the fall of 2007. The TAMU Orchestra was started in 2003 by a group of students who felt Texas A&M needed a full time orchestra to meet the needs of students and to provide outstanding orchestra music to the campus and community. Like the first TAMU Orchestra, the current ensemble is made up of students who love to play their instrument and want to continue playing in a university setting. Most of the students in the orchestra are majoring in subjects other than music and therefore the orchestra is designed to meet the needs of these students.

The orchestra performs the best of both string and full orchestra literature and strives to perform at a high degree of excellence. They perform two concerts per semester: one string orchestra and one full orchestra. The class meets for 2 1⁄2 hours a week and has only two outside of class rehearsals per semester in which the string players rehearse the full orchestra literature with the winds and percussion.

How to Become a Member
The first thing students must do to be a member of the orchestra is be admitted to Texas A&M. Incoming freshmen should check with admissions (http://admissions.tamu.edu/) to ensure they meet all deadlines and complete all applications. Once admitted to Texas A&M, students need to register for the class and complete an audition. Registration takes place at the New Student Conference for incoming freshman and transfer students and late in each academic semester for current A&M students. Students should register for the orchestra at these times to ensure they are enrolled in the class prior to auditions. For incoming students and transfer students, auditions will take place beginning two weeks prior to the fall semester. Current A&M students should audition at the end of each semester. All auditions take place in the Adams Band Building. Please contact Dr. Sikes in advance to schedule an audition.

Audition Material
The audition will consist of two prepared excerpts and sight-reading. Students should prepare two excerpts, each about two minutes in length. One excerpt should be fast and technical in nature and the other slow and lyrical. Students choose their own audition material; many students use past etudes or solos. Violinists wishing to play 1st part should demonstrate their ability to play in 4th position and higher. The sight-reading material will be taken from music the orchestra will be performing in the upcoming academic year.