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.
