I don’t want to be a music major, but I want to keep playing violin in an orchestra. Can I join the school’s orchestra without majoring in music?

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Depends on the school. In most schools, you will be able to join without problems. Some might make you audition, but will not consider your major as a factor. Other schools, especially the large universities, have majors-only ensembles and a more “community” orchestra open to non-majors. You should have no trouble joining an orchestra, but your options may be slightly limited depending on the school.

My band director says my lips are too thin to create the correct embouchure for the flute which I have a been playing for the last year. Should I believe him or think that he is feeding me a bunch of bologna because our band has few clarinets and no oboes but lots of flutes? If I believe him which instrument should I change to? Thanks!

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We don’t know, we can’t, because we can’t see your embouchure when you play. It’s more than lips though – there are shapes and muscles and teeth involved in that embouchure too. It’s a package deal. There IS some reality that some shapes of embouchure are better suited to some instruments than others. He might be feeding you a line, he might not – we don’t know. If you need to know, find a professional flute teacher and ask.

If you very much prefer flute then play flute. Me, I never cared what I played as long as I had a seat to play in so I learned everything. I always have a seat to play in. If I had learned oboe better I’d get paid a lot better for some of those seats.

None is easier or harder than the others – they’re just different with different demands. Some require that you practice every single day to keep your muscles up though and oboe is one of those – flute is not. I know this because I can play them all. If you’d like to always have a seat to play in though, oboe. No question. I have never heard a band or orchestra director say “oh no, we have too many oboes” in 40 years of playing music. Too many flutes, clarinets, or saxes? In every single ensemble I’ve ever played in.

Interestingly too – most oboe players I know can take a seat in the flute, clarinet, or sax sections too. They can rip out a Telemann sonata on recorder too. Very few flute players I know can do anything but play flute and half of those don’t want to unless they’re first chair. [I'm allowed to rag on flute players, flute is my primary instrument.]

PS: If you’re the sort who doesn’t want to practice and will only play in band class then don’t do oboe! It requires some dedication to be even mediocre and serious dedication to be really good. They are also not inexpensive.

I play the clarinet and it’s my dream to play in an orchestra, being able to travel around while doing what I love, but do you think it’s too unlikely and I should find a more realistic career idea. I live in the UK, I don’t know if that would make a difference. Thanks

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I don’t know so much about “two or three openings per decade” since there are more than a few clarinet seats listed open in the musician’s union newspaper right now and always seem to be a few in there. There are always seats for the best musicians to sit in. The key here is “best musicians” and certainly not “average Joe”.

If you’re the best, the chances are very high. The further down the list of “best” you are, the lower the chances get. A challenge for clarinetists (and some others) is that it’s simply not a very large section. Most orchestras have two or three players and that’s it.

Most orchestras also aren’t touring ensembles. That “travel around the country” idea isn’t so much what orchestras do. Sure, many do tour from time-to-time but that’s not their usual operation. Musical theater pit orchestras do a good amount of touring but you’ll need to play the entire woodwind group and not just clarinet for those jobs.

Is it too unlikely? Nobody here can answer that because we’ve not heard you play. It’s certainly not impossible, plenty of people make their living as professional performing musicians. There are more people who would like to than there are jobs for them to have but there are indeed jobs to be had if, and only if, you’re the best.

You might want to have a back-up plan for the lean times. Most performing musicians look to teaching as a good back-up plan. Those who don’t make a plan usually find themselves as waiters while looking for work.

I recently auditioned for the TMEA All-State Orchestra Ensembles, and am wondering how strict are they in accepting people?
I play the Viola and I played well except for a rest on one of Prokofiev’s excerpts.
Does anyone have any idea on how many violas(or everyone in general) try out, and what the judges look for?
I have already made All-Region Orchestra for my region.

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The judges are listening for tone quality, how well you play the music in terms of correct notes and rhythms, fluidity of technique, bowing and interpretation. I can tell you, despite what Kaka said, there are a huge number of students who try out for the Texas All-State bands and orchestras.

It has been a number of years since I judged at the region or area level but I can tell you that the process is very competitive, and if you’ve made it through to those levels you can be proud of your achievement. You didn’t indicate what level your tryout was at.

As to numbers of a particular instrument taken that can vary, and your director could probably find out that information for you.

Good luck. Hope you make it all the way to State.

The actual radiologic technologist salary is fairly appealing, in the average. This is the reason associated with the reality that plenty of recent graduate students through high school are having a career to be a radiologic technologist a major concept. This is the reason there are a variety of individuals often gainfully currently employed somewhere else that happen to be evaluating the advantages of a job move to radiology. They have this inkling that commencing a radiologic technologist career will get them places in life.

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The kind of medical facility you’re working at additionally plays a role in determining how big the radiologic technologist wage you are likely to get is. Research claim that radiologists functioning at scanning centers earn a lot more than those that just work at clinics or hospitals. Likewise, the better work experience you possess, the higher your wage are going to be. That’s not unpredicted. A radiologic technologist who has a number of years’ a worth of expertise under their belt and supports a managerial job most often generates at least $80,000 per year.

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In the late 1970s I heard an album of an orchestra / ensemble who had recorded Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. It was the first recording of RIB that I had ever heard and it was special. I don’t remember the name of the conductor, but the name of the orchestra was someone’s name, not like a city’s orchestra, or a national orchestra. I believe the orchestra was either American or British. Any ideas?

Comments:

Here is the info you need.

Two audio recordings exist of Gershwin performing an abridged version of the work with Whiteman’s orchestra: an acoustic recording made June 10, 1924, released on two sides of Victor 55225 and running 8:59 – this recording includes the original clarinetist, Ross Gorman, playing the glissando — and an electrical recording made April 21, 1927, released on both sides of Victor 35822 and running 9:01 (about half the length of the complete work). The latter version was actually conducted by Nathaniel Shilkret after an argument between Gershwin and Whiteman. Both versions can be found here (For an explanation of “acoustic” and “electrical”, see gramophone record). A 1925 piano roll captured Gershwin’s performance in a two piano version. Whiteman’s orchestra also performed the piece in the 1930 film The King of Jazz featuring Roy Bargy on piano.

Since the mid-20th century, the 1942 version has usually been performed by classical orchestras playing the expanded arrangement. In this form, it has become a staple of the concert repertoire. It has direct popular appeal while also being regarded respectfully by classical musicians.

In the late 1970s, interest in the original arrangement was revived. Reconstructions of it have been recorded by Michael Tilson Thomas and the Columbia Jazz Band in 1976, and by Maurice Peress with Ivan Davis on piano as part of a 60th-anniversary reconstruction of the entire 1924 concert.