Had to recreate it on canva

I have joined two amateur orchestras and find really unfriendly personalities. First orchestra, I have been for 3 years now and only now get to know a few more people. Many people barely speak to each other and rarely between sections. People can attend rehearsals and come and go without saying hi to anyone, zero smiles. My other orchestra, my section barely speak to each other. There are people trying to push up the seating hierarchy and hoping to maintain their positions. It is quite disheartening because I do like to play music with other people but it’s such unfriendly atmosphere.

Mozart: Divertimento in D major, K.136
I. Allegro
Sinfonia Toronto; Nurhan Arman, Conductor
https://youtu.be/-JklRiDt2CM
Recorded live on January 23, 2026, Toronto.

Im so short. You can see from the bass on the left of me lmao.

I play cello in a community chamber orchestra. I am an adult learner. We have very difficult repertoire this term that is fast and has tricky bowing and string crossings at speed. It will take me all term and a lot of hard work to learn it. However rehearsals start at full speed from day one so either I have to fake it in rehearsals, which doesn't help me learn it and is not enjoyable, or if I want to have a go to get a feel for the pulse, how it fits together and which are the bits that really need work on I have to endure the anxiety and shame of messing up in front of everyone. If I do the latter I worry that it will annoy the other musicians by spoiling the sound. I am feeling increasingly stressed and anxious. Is there any solution that doesn't involve just air bowing or is this orchestra life and it's just not the right environment for me? Is it frowned on for string players to have a go even if they can't quite get there yet? Obviously if I hadn't mastered it by the concert I would air bow in the concert but usually I master 90/95% by the time of the concert, it's just the rehearsals that I find excruciating and shaming. I have been thinking of quitting for a while now and this morning I woke up and decided to leave but thought I would hear others' experiences first before making a final decision.

Edited to add: thank you for all your replies - a real range of views all of them valid and helpful. I decided to quit. I should have mentioned that the principal cellist has been off sick and since then I keep having to sit on front desk every time someone is absent from rehearsal and there is always someone absent. So really I just haven't been coping with being on front desk.

Out of curiosity how many high school orchestras make chamber their most elite orchestra and not symphony? And for the ones that do, I’ve always wondered why? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the symphony orchestra represent the strings program since it has more instruments like brass and such which can make the orchestra sound like really big and play masterworks like the finale of Tchaikovsky 5?(I entirely understand if a school just can’t do a full orchestra, but this question mainly applies to the ones which do)

Personally in my school symphony is the main elite tier while chamber is an unselective and optional double block open to anyone who makes symphony

Recently, I am particularly interested in conducting, and would like to learn more about what a conductor does and how. I specifically want to know the technical details of how they communicate with the orchestra and what various hand signals mean.

I am looking for recommendations on sources to learn about this, with a preference for documentaries and/or books.

Thank you!

A weekly newsletter about making orchestras a better place to work, based on nearly 15 years of experience in orchestra production and arts administration.

I am currently composing a Piano Concerto. I do have plenty of experience with Piano, as I have composed a set of 24 Preludes, 1 per key, as well as a Fantasia, and a Concerto for Two Pianos, but I have very little experience with Orchestration. I have a little experience with Strings and Percussion, but not Woodwinds or Brass. (For reference, this will be a Romantic era Concerto, I am aiming to make it feel like a Rachmaninoff style Concerto, but to a much lesser extend (like Rachmaninoff's Piano feeling with Chopin's Orchestration, and it will be in C Minor (1st movement in C Minor, 2nd in Eb Major, and 3rd going from C Minor to C Major). Total instrumentation used: 1 Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinet in Bb's, 1 Bassoon, 4 Horn in F's, 2 Trumpets, 2 Trombones (both Bass), 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 1 Bass Drum, 1 Snare Drum, 1 Cymbals, 1 Triangle, 1 Piano, 2 Violins, 1 Viola, 1 Cello and 1 Double Bass). Do you guys have tips for orchestration? (note, I am using inspiration from more than just Rachmaninoff and Chopin, and I am trying to make this uniquely me)

The link is a soundtrack from Avatar The Last Airbender final episode and I was wondering what its ostinato is. I think I can get pretty close to it, but I need your help to figure out the notes. the ostinato starts at 0:37.

this ofc is the most recognizable part. i use flat.io and try to make the midi sound as realistic as possible

NOWHERE near finished. please give suggestions (or thoughts and opinions) on how to make it sound more balanced i love feedback ;)

Hi everyone,

There are several decent sites where you can plug your MIDI keyboard into your computer and play music live with other people in your browser. I've spent a lot of time on ones sites like PianoRhythm, MultiplayerPiano, Pianoverse, and MultiplayerOrchestra. They are great fun, but I feel they fall short because people almost always end up playing AT each other instead of playing WITH each other.

I made Jamphony to try and fix that and encourage jamming. It supports your MIDI controllers, note input from your computer keyboard, and you can click notes with your mouse.

Rooms are designed to hopefully avoid a free for all situation. There are a limited number of seats so if you're spectating and there is an open seat, you can sit down pick from piano and orchestra instruments. Room hosts can limit how many players can use a specific sound at once. You could limit the room to only two instruments per player for example, so then 5 people won't be on Marimba. If a sound you want is taken, there's a button to request an instrument swap with another seated player.

Also to help people play together, we calculate the chord you are currently playing from your notes and display it on screen to help others follow. Hosts can also use the Next Chord feature, which uses reserved keys they can press to shape out a chord and help direct the rest of the room to it in a progression.

I also wanted to deal with the spam players that usually plague the other sites. Every user has a "reputation" on their profile based on thumbs up/down from other players. As a room host, you can set a min reputation needed to sit down (unless you invite them on purpose). Guests who haven't logged in can still chat and play, but hosts can choose to disable that from their rooms if wanted.

The site launched recently so I'm mostly looking for testing and feedback right now. If you decide to make an account, you can leave feedback for me directly through the settings menu, or dropping feedback in this comments is good too! I am also very interested in hearing feature ideas or improvements to existing features.

Link: https://jamphony.com

Thanks!

Hi friends!
Sorry if these questions are asked a lot, I tried searching the sub and didn’t find much specifics.

My city’s orchestra just opened applications for two violin positions, and spots on their sub list. Thing is, I’ve never applied for an orchestra before. I played with a professional orchestra in my last year of being a student so I have that experience, but there was no audition as I was recommended by a professor.

Can anyone give any advice on how to format a resume for this application? And if I get called to audition what can I expect (ie. Will I be playing all the excerpts, will there be sight reading, will there be a verbal interview, etc)

Any advice yall can provide is much appreciated ^.^

Christmas is quickly approaching and I need something to play for! I love filling my schedule with Christmas gigs around the holidays, but haven’t been able to find any since moving to New York. Does anyone know of any Christmas productions/concerts that need a violinist? I’m even willing to play for a church program like the Messiah or something. I could play for free! If anyone can provide any advice or help, I’d appreciate it!