Orchestra

Welcome to the SHS Orchestra web page! A student's high school experience should be diverse and include multiple areas of study, and the orchestra program provides a unique part of that experience. The Orchestra Department is made up of the non-auditioned String Choir and the auditioned Symphony Orchestra. Our Heartstrings group and Chamber String Ensemble are extra-curricular opportunities to go along with those ensembles! More information about each group (and pictures!) can be found on separate pages.

Our focus is to develop a greater love of music through musical study and performance. Students in these ensembles have the opportunity to participate in large string ensembles, small chamber ensembles, full orchestral ensembles, and to study theory and music history. We also extend our love of playing by visiting the Madison Symphony Orchestra at Overture Hall each year, and touring to Elementary schools or other venues in the community.

Five years ago we traveled to Nashville and Memphis, TN to learn even more about various genres of music and perform them. Tours happen every year in the Music Department, rotating between Orchestra, Band, and Choir. Our tour in 2020 was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic, but we hope to continue this tradition soon.

The Orchestra program strives to create a cohesive, enriching, and life-enhancing experience for all students to prepare them for life in an ever-changing world.

SHS Orchestra Handbook

Important Dates

Please add them to your calendar!!!!!

The following is a list of dates and times that ALL Orchestra students need to know about and be present for if it pertains to them. Events that include ALL orchestra students' participation are underlined.

September/October

Pick out Concerto if interested in auditioning for Concerto Concert, auditions for Chamber String Ensemble
Begin choosing music for Solo and Ensemble, have first lesson with Ms. Lam!
October 9th – Badger Conference Honors Orchestra at UW-Madison (Hamel Center) - auditioned members from Symphony Orchestra

November
November 2nd – End of Quarter 1: First lesson and sectional deadline!
November 9th - 7 pm – Fall Orchestra Concert
November 29th - 5-7 pm - 27th Annual Concerto Competition Auditions in SHS Auditorium

December

December 9-10th - 6 pm - Madrigal Dinner (members of Symphony Orchestra)
December 11th – 7 PM - 6-12 Orchestra Winter Concert in SHS Auditorium
December 22nd – January 1st – Winter Break

January
January 19th – End of Quarter 2: Second lesson and sectional deadline

February

February 22nd – Second Annual Stoughton Orchestra Festival (5-12), 7 PM at River Bluff MS (Gym)
February 26-27th – Auditions for the 2024-2025 Symphony Orchestra

March
March 9th – Badger Conference Solo & Ensemble Festival @ Verona HS
March 19th - 7 pm – 27th Annual Concerto Concert in SHS Auditorium
TBD – End of Quarter 3: Third lesson and sectional deadline!
March 25th – April 2nd - Spring Break - Possible Orchestra Tour - TBD

April
April 27th - State Solo and Ensemble @ UW-Whitewater

May
May 9th - 7 pm - Spring Choir Concert, location TBD (members of Symphony Orchestra)
May 10th - morning rehearsal (during school day) – 25th Annual Orchestra Theme Concert Dress Rehearsal
May 13th - 7 pm – 25th Annual Orchestra Theme Concert in SHS Auditorium

June
June 7th – End of 4th Quarter: Fourth lesson and sectional deadline!

Grading Expectations

Grading

Daily Rehearsal Grade:
(5 points per day in class) Having a positive attitude will go a long way in this class. I am always more impressed with the ‘average’ performer who has a positive outlook and is willing to work hard, rather than a superstar performer in need of an attitude adjustment! Rehearsal, how you play in class on a daily basis, is extremely important. If you show that you are putting forth your best effort even on those days you may be struggling or having a ‘bad’ day, I applaud you. This includes having your instrument, music and a pencil!
Lessons/Solo & Ensemble:

All orchestra students are required to perform a solo or small group piece in March. This can be in the Solo & Ensemble Festival (in person), the S&E virtual festival, or performing for the class. Each student is required to sign up for a MINIMUM of ONE lesson per quarter to prepare for this. (See due dates on master calendar on lesson wall.) Students are allowed to choose if they’d like to prepare a solo or participate in an ensemble and who those members will be. If you chose to participate in an ensemble, all members of the group need to be present at that lesson which can occur before school, after school or during 1st, 6th or 7th hour. The lesson sign-up sheets are on the wall to the right as you enter the double doors. Look for the appropriate day and hour you are available.
Sectionals:

Students are required to attend ONE sectional every quarter which will take place during 1st, 6th or 7th hour. Each sectional will be 30 minutes of the hour and you will know well in advance when your sectional meets in order to make arrangements with your classroom teacher. If your sectional happens to fall on a test day, or field trip, you need to sign up for a lesson to make up for the missed sectional.
Quizzes:

Each quarter you will have a combination of playing quizzes and small written quizzes to check for understanding. You will always know well in advance what you are expected to play for the playing quizzes, what will be included on written quizzes, and when they should be completed. Playing quizzes are encouragement to get you to practice and are always to benefit your playing and are not something I just do to torture you! ☺ Playing quizzes may also be administered through the use of Schoology, where students will record a video of them playing and submit it to me for grading (with a rubric posted online).
Alternate Concert:

ONCE each quarter, you will need to watch some kind of concert performance (something “live” online or a recording of a live performance), and complete our performance assessment rubric. This can be another SHS Concert, a Madison Symphony Concert, or your favorite rock group! It is important to be an audience member as well as the performer and appreciate both sides of the stage when studying music. A short rubric critique will need to be turned in to Ms. Lam (we will create it together!).
Performances/Projects:

Your attendance at OUR Concerts and Dress Rehearsals is MANDATORY. WORK IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO MISS!! You know our dates well enough in advance to effectively communicate any conflicts. If you miss one of these scheduled events, a make-up will be given on a case-by-case basis . If you don’t communicate with Ms. Lam, your grade is dropped accordingly (these are summative)!

Final Exam:

This will be a combination of an online Schoology quiz on terms and theory concepts and a playing quiz on either your solo piece or our combined piece. I will know more details about the final at the start of 2nd and 4th quarter as to its particulars based on what we have covered so far. I fully believe in preparing you for the exam and you will always know exactly what’s on it before the test day. If you do a little studying on your own time, this should be a walk in the park!!

Supplies and Instrument Maintenance

Supplies Needed

Students will need their instrument every day, and Chromebook (provided by the District) on occasion. A pencil is needed each day - Ms. Lam will let students know in advance when they should bring additional materials.

Music will be provided and distributed to students in class.

Students should have rosin and an extra set of strings in their case.

Instrument Maintenance Tips

Change your STRINGS once a year, and now is a great time to do so! Strings often go "bad" or "false" long before they break, and won't stay in tune. Need help? I would be more than happy to help you! Also, it is a VERY good idea to have a spare set of strings in your case at all times, just in case you break one in the middle of class or while practicing at home.
- Suggestion: a good brand of strings would be Pirastro, Dominant, or Helicore. They have a great sound and are good quality for the price you pay. Do NOT get Prelude strings - they go false quickly and have a poor sound, not mention being very weak and easy to break.
Your BOW should be re-haired once a year. If you are missing a lot of bow hair or the hair is black near the frog, it is in DESPERATE need of a re-hair. Just think how frustrating it would be to play soccer (or any sport!) with a deflated ball. Poor equipment doesn't make for a great game and poor strings or bow hair make for a poor sound. If you need to have your bow re-haired, you can take it to either Ward-Brodt Music or Heid Music. In some cases, buying a new bow is a great option too!
- Suggestion: to extend the life of your bow and instrument, wipe the rosin residue off the fingerboard and strings with a cloth each time you play. A thin, soft cloth can work for this purpose. This will affect your sound quality! Make sure to ask for real horse hair when getting your bow re-haired. Also check your rosin - it doesn't last forever!

School Instruments

Renting an Instrument!

If you will be using a school instrument this school year, you will be charged an annual maintenance fee and must sign the maintenance agreement form. For cellos and basses, this fee is $75.00. Because of the increased cost of repairs, the expense for maintaining these large instruments cannot be absorbed by the HS Orchestra account. This fee is consistent with the other instrument maintenance programs in our district. The fee will be assessed for both students who use the HS instruments as their primary instrument (those who have no instrument at home), and those who use the school instruments as a convenience (those who don’t wish to bring their large instrument to school everyday).

The SHS Orchestra Department also has a small number of violins and violas available for rental. Typically rental from Ward-Brodt or Heid Music is encouraged for the smaller instruments, but please reach out to me if you would need one from the district. The fee to rent a violin or viola for the school year is $45.00.

Please sign and return the included H.S. Rental/Maintenance Agreement if you/your student plans to rent from SHS.
There are two ways to complete payment for a rental instrument:

Turn in a check for the appropriate amount based on instrument, made out to Stoughton Area Schools, by Friday, September 22nd.
Pay online! Let Ms. Lam that you would like to make the payment via Infinite Campus, and she will make sure it is added to your student account.

If you are renting a school instrument, the following Instrument Rental Agreement MUST be completed and returned by Friday, September 22nd.

Rental Agreement (Cello/Bass Page 1; Violin/Viola Page 2)

Student Section Leaders

If you have been a Section Leader in the past or desire to be one in the future, this information is for you!

What is a Section Leader?
- Student Section Leaders may sit on the first stand of their section, but not always.
- They are often in charge of running sectionals and helping other members of their section with fingerings and bowings. I often go to the Section Leaders for their input and ideas concerning things that deal with the Orchestra class.

Does this interest you? Audition with part of your most recent solo piece, and a 2 octave D Major scale (Violin), or 2 octave G Major Scale (Viola, Cello, Bass) and email Ms. Lam to set up a short audition (15 minutes) during a lesson time on either Tuesday, September 12th or Wednesday, September 13th.

Concert Attire

Concerts in the music department are considered formal events and we wear appropriate clothing to reflect that. There are guidelines ALL students must follow in order to participate in the concerts. If a student comes to a concert in inappropriate attire, they will not be allowed to perform in the concert and points will not be earned.

Acceptable clothing for concerts:

Tops:
- Long Sleeved Black Dress shirt (tucked in), school appropriate neck line
- Black dress shirt with ¾ length sleeves or longer, school appropriate neckline
- Neck tie or scarf/other accessories are optional (we'll choose an accent color as a class for each concert!)
Bottoms:
- Black dress pants,
- Black dress or skirt (hem of skirt/dress MUST be to the knee or below while seated)
- Black dress shoes (no tennis shoes)
- Black socks

Clothing that should NOT be worn to a concert:

White tennis shoes
Mini skirt
Crop top
Any clothing items that would fall outside of our school dress code - this is a formal event!

Practice

Practice is an incredibly important part of developing skills on your string instrument - you do not improve without it!
Students have opportunities to practice at SHS before or after school, during lunch, and during Study Hall ONLY with a pass from Ms. Lam.

We talk about productive practice in class - even if you only have 10 minutes to set aside, every bit of focused practice counts! Intonation and keeping a steady tempo are important - tuners and metronomes can be downloaded as applications on your phone or there are websites also! Ms. Lam recommends Tuner Lite and Pro Metronome for apps and www.theonlinemetronome.com online(it has a metronome and tuner). There are resources on your class Schoology page also to work on practicing.

If you want more practice tips, ask Ms. Lam!

Forms to Return

To start the year off successfully, there are a couple forms you will need to complete!

First, signing the acknowledgement form demonstrates that you understand what is expected of you as a member of the SHS Orchestra Program and that you have read the SHS Orchestra Handbook (all of the information above on this page). This is due by Friday, September 8th.

Second, if you are renting an instrument, choose the appropriate form to complete and submit below. This is due by Friday, September 22nd.

Orchestra Handbook Acknowledgement Form