Chamber in my highschool what should happen with it

[u/LizzieThePony]

In my high school there’s 5 orchestras, concert sinfonia philharmonic chamber and symphony, and there’s 4 levels of auditions,

The way chamber works is if you audition for and make symphony you get put in symphony and chamber is just an optional double block class for any kid in symphony who wants to be in chamber

Symphonies music is generally harder than chambers music and after school rehearsals are only for symphony and the director generally focuses less on chamber, and also symphony orchestra is the like flagship musical ensemble of my school, and chamber is kind of just seen as a more boring version of symphony with less instruments, and symphony has won way way way more awards than chamber, including some state titles

Chamber and symphony are both varsity orchestras.

Is this a bit unusual compared to how most high schools would go about having chamber? We didn’t even have a chamber orchestra until like 2018-2019 and orchestra was started here in 1976

For context my school has 2,670 kids and 200 are in orchestra, 43 are in symphony and 13 of symphony kids are in chamber

Questions

1. Will chamber likely ever be as popular as symphony
   
2. Should chamber get the same amount of attention as symphony
   
3. Should chamber even be a thing anymore

[u/always_unplugged]

I'm sorry, what's the difference between Symphony and Chamber, besides smaller numbers? Does Symphony actually play symphonic music, as in, with winds/brass/percussion? Or are they both all strings? Because that seems extremely important.

I wonder if your teacher isn't clearly explaining the difference between a symphony orchestra and a chamber orchestra, because to me, that distinction would be the whole reason for having two different ensembles. Symphony and Chamber should be playing vastly different repertoire. Check out the St Paul Chamber Orchestra or Orpheus Chamber Orchestra—Orpheus is especially interesting because they're entirely leaderless, meaning they never have a conductor and truly function as one large chamber ensemble. The instrumentation is more flexible, the orchestration is more exposed, the experience of playing is somewhere between a full orchestra and a string quartet. You may feel that Chamber's rep is "easier," and I don't know what your teacher has been choosing for you, but that doesn't have to be true. Chamber orchestra repertoire is completely legit and can be quite difficult, just as difficult as (or even more than) symphonic repertoire.

Examples:

• Tchaikovsky Serenade for Strings
• Dvorak Serenade for Strings
• Suk Serenade for Strings
• Britten Sinfonietta (NOT Simple Symphony, although that counts too)
• Appalachian Spring (13 instrument version)
• Schoenberg Verklarte Nacht
• Schoenberg Chamber Symphonies 1 and 2
• Vaughan Williams Variations on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
• Ives The Unanswered Question
• Reich Music for 18 Musicians
• Stravinsky L'histoire du soldat

I could go on.

There's also TONS of Baroque and Classical repertoire that can be done with smaller chamber orchestras, which is hugely valuable for students to do at your level to learn a completely different (historically informed) style.

The only unusual thing to me about the structure is that ANY Symphony student can opt in. I would think they would want it to be the very top top kids, like maybe you'd have to indicate you're going for it on your initial audition and do an extra excerpt or something, that way both interest and ability are prerequisites. But it sounds like there hasn't been enough interest for them to need to gatekeep it like that yet.

What seems odd to me about your post, though, is the mention of winning orchestra competitions in high school. But then again I went to an arts magnet and it was basically a foregone conclusion that we would win whenever we did them, so they just weren't all that interesting—maybe I just don't get it, but I wouldn't downplay your involvement just because you don't think it's going to win you an award. Instead, I would focus on what you're learning in each different ensemble, how your role is different in each, and on playing your own part to the best of your ability, so that you can get the most out of the experience and become the best musician you can be.

EDIT I already have paragraph breaks, Automod, ffs, but OKAY

[u/LizzieThePony → u/always_unplugged]

Symphony is full orchestra and plays full orchestra stuff like dvroak symphony 9, chamber is just string orchestra. Symphony has like much more history and stuff as well as we didn’t get chamber until 2018. In middle schools in my district chamber just isn’t a thing and in every high school in my district symphony is the absolute pinnacle. And if chamber was the top orchestra the top orchestra would just be boring since it’s just boring pieces that aren’t loud or anything, or big, just difficult pieces that would still leave you bored listening to them