<p>Im interested in joining the Princeton Orchestra next year (violin). Does anyone know how competitive it is or how difficult it is to make 1st violin?</p>
<p>I'd be interested in hearing about that too. Would two or three years in an all-state orchestra generally qualify someone to be in it?</p>
<p>You have to have all-state experience? I was under the impression that anyone could just try out.</p>
<p>The 'formal' orchestra is very competitive and demanding. Rhapsody has good shot. But there are other non formal groups as well.</p>
<p>People usually move up from Sinfonia to the PUO.</p>
<p>the orchestra is very very good, but it's not difficult for freshmen to get in if they're talented. i thought that, having soloed with professional orchestras, done all-state, 1st chair, etc etc., i'd be set, but i'm really pretty middle-of-the-road here. as for strings, don't expect to be concertmaster any time soon. there are string players in the orchestra who have soloed at Carnegie hall, throughout europe, and with the most prestigious orchestras in the world. the competition is tough. that's not to say, though, that you can't work your way up through the orchestra. and, if you don't make it, you can always play in one of the other groups until the second round of auditions in the spring.</p>
<p>how competitive is it for a wind player? I'm planning on doing wind ensemble regardless, but I'm just curious...</p>
<p>Eeeee, how hard is the audition music?</p>
<p>Why would a person that talented, solo with pro orchestras in europe, play at carnegie hall and play with the most prestigious orchestras in the world as a teenager go to Princeton. Honestly, a person that good and that serious is probably going to go for a succesful career and music, and princeton is not known as being a top music school. They would go to either a conservatory or a place like USC. I bet the orchestra is talented, but not to the level of having music prodigies. Princeton attracts smart people who are talented in music as a passionate EC, not extremely talented musicians looking for a career in music.</p>
<p>Princeton has some pretty crazy good violinists. Not every talented musician wants to go into music, and not every talented musician who does want to go into music goes to a conservatory. Yo-Yo Ma went to Yale.</p>
<p>Yo Yo Ma definitely went to Harvard.</p>
<p>Sorry, my mistake.</p>
<p>The Princeton Orchestra contains many talented players, some of whom are graduates of pre-college music programs such as Juilliards, and some of whom could have gone to prestigious conservatories but preferred a liberal arts college. Its hard to say whether All-State will be sufficient since the level required to make All State varies by state. My child knows students who were All-State in New Jersey and Delaware who auditioned and were not placed in the orchestra. And yes, there are exceptional talents in the Orchestra, such as a violist who recently soloed with the Philadelphia Orchestra. With the recent gift Princeton received of $101 million to support the creative and performing arts and the Presidents focus on attracting artistic students, the orchestra is only likely to get stronger over time. (Unlike Yales gift, which is for graduate student tuition, Princetons gift will support primarily undergraduate programs.) Students who plan to become professional musicians dont usually go to Princeton. However, students who have the talent to become professional musicians but choose to make it their avocation rather than their vocation can be found in abundance.<br>
P.S. Princeton subsidizes part or all of the cost of private lessons for orchestra members, depending on whether the student is in the certificate program in music performance. Students can and some students do travel to New York or Philadelphia to take lessons with teachers from schools such as Juilliard, Curtis, or Mannes.</p>