OI in Action

Members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Christof Huebner (viola) and Eric Bartlett (cello) with MSM's Jenny Stenson (cello).

Left/Above: MSM's Brittany Roach on horn. Right/Below: Orpheus member Peter Lloyd (bass) with MSM's Micah Schub (bass).

Cynde Iverson (bassoon) from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with MSM student Charlton Hughes (bassoon).

Happy Hour = Happy Orpheus

Increasing our level of communication through social interaction...beer anyone? - anonymous

Tempi by Charlton Hughes

After listening to several recordings of Brahms' Serenade No. 1 in D major, I've decided that our group needs to work on its tempi. Without a conductor, our ensemble's rhythm is at times, questionable. Often, we stray away from our desired tempi. As a result, we've been rehearsing too much too slowly. In particular, the first and third movements are under tempo as well as rhythmically unstable. My suggestion for the upcoming rehearsals is that we decide on tempi markings for each movement. That way, when we stray from the desired tempo, we can compare it to our metronome markings and thus rehearse more efficiently.

Orpheus Institute Terminology - Core Rehearsal vs. Full-Orchestra Rehearsal

In the core rehearsal, the student leadership team gets together for the first time to establish an initial concept of the piece as well as to create an outline for the full-orchestra rehearsals later in the week. Generally, the core consists of the principal players from each section. In larger works, such as Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, the core involves nearly 20 musicians as the piece itself requires a wide variety of instruments. Brahms' Serenade No. 1 in D major, however, does not require the same expansive instrumentation. As such, the core rehearsal only includes 12 musicians from the OI.

In the full-orchestra rehearsal, all musicians have the opportunity to suggest and critique interpretations as well as to help refine the execution of these ideas. Core members are responsible for leading and managing this process in preparation for the public performance.

The Inside Scoop on How the Programming Committee Took Care Business by David Sullivan

After the Orpheus Institute at MSM decided the Programming Committee members, those of us on the Committee did our preliminary planning through email (exchanging contact info, setting up meeting times, etc.). The Programming Committee included at least one member from every major section in the orchestra. Representing the woodwinds were Sandy Hughes and Amanda Sparfeld. From the strings we had Amos Fayette and then I served as the voice of the brass section. We decided that for the first meeting everyone should bring a list of selections so that we could have a large list of music to choose from. When we met for the first time, we discovered that since everyone had pretty lengthy lists, we did not need to research more music and instead, could start planning programs. We compiled all of our choices into one long list and went over all the works asking ourselves if each piece was feasible without a conductor and more importantly, if it would be fun to play. This cut our selections down to a reasonable number of works that we felt we could work in depth. We organized this shorter list by orchestration, style and length. This was where we really began our planning.

We knew that timing was extremely important to consider when planning a program. We also needed to make sure that everyone in the Orchestral Performance program had at least one piece in which to participate. After some discussion, we realized that most of our ideas were falling into a kind of formula: overture, middle piece, intermission and the “big piece.” With this thought, we put together four programs (one each) keeping in mind timing and orchestration. Thus ended the Committee’s independent planning. We knew that these were not finalized sets and were open for improvement. In addition, we wanted the opinion of the group. We understood that bringing in semi-complete ideas to the group was better than basic sketches and that they would help ensure things would run smoothly and at a reasonable pace.

At the first large programming meeting, we were able to narrow down our four programs to one. Deciding that for posterity we should have at least two programs to choose from, we collectively put together a short list of pieces that could possibly fill one more program. Since some of these pieces were unknown to a handful of OI members, the works were placed on streaming audio and the scores on reserve so that when the time came to vote, everyone would a more intimate knowledge of them. We scheduled an emergency meeting to vote on the second program as well as to have one last vote to choose the final repertoire. At the emergency meeting, we quickly put together a second program, and then at last, had one final vote to choose the official repertoire. Ironically, the vote was unanimous for the second program.

Upcoming Concerts

Upcoming Concerts

Thursday, October 30th
Orpheus Institute at Manhattan School of Music Run Out Concert
Westchester, NY
Information coming soon...


Thursday, November 6th
Orpheus Institute at Manhattan School of Music
Manhattan School of Music
Borden Auditorium, 7:30pm


Repertoire for the 2008 season:

Ludwig van Beethoven's Egmont Overture
Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol
Brahms' Serenade No. 1 in D major