WA Schools' Orchestra Festival

This event is run in partnership with the Australian Band and Orchestra Director's Association (WA). The twentieth WA Schools' Orchestra Festival was held at Perth Modern School on Saturday, 8 August and Sunday, 9 August 2009.

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The aims of the Orchestra Festival are:

  • To give orchestras a performance opportunity at an outstanding venue.
  • To give orchestra members an opportunity to hear other orchestras perform.
  • To provide each orchestra with constructive comments from a panel of informed adjudicators.
  • To present to each orchestra a certificate which recognises its participation and standard of performance.

The festival is open to any independent or government school string or symphony orchestra, with divisions catering for young, unbalanced, orchestras to experienced senior orchestras.

It is emphasized that conductors of orchestras should make every endeavor to ensure members of their orchestra are encouraged and given ample opportunity to listen to other orchestras as part of their participation in the Festival.

Although the Festival is not planned as a competitive event, orchestras will remain in divisions with a panel of adjudicators providing written and spoken comments. Orchestras will also receive a certificate which will be inscribed with a grading of Outstanding, Excellent, Merit or Certificate of Participation. Novice orchestras will not be graded, but will receive adjudication comments and a Certificate of Participation. At the conclusion of the festival the director will receive a recording of the orchestra. This recording will include comments from the adjudicators, which will be made throughout the orchestra’s performance and superimposed over the music.

With the increasing number of middle school orchestras participating in recent Festivals, the organisers have decided to completely review all divisions in next year’s (2010) event. This year, as a interim measure, Secondary School String Orchestra C and Primary School String Orchestra A will be called Middle School String Orchestra. Of course, primary and secondary ensembles will still be able to enter in this division.

Orchestras, other than those in Novice Division, are expected to present an appropriate program which must include one piece from the Music Selections List 2009 with a playing time of up to 15 minutes for primary ensembles and up to 20 minutes for secondary ensembles. Orchestras who do not present the required piece from the Music Selections List will only be eligible to receive a Certificate of Participation.

The program should equate to the standard set in the list of music chosen for the division and should not contain solo concertos or other works where the orchestra takes a secondary role.

It is essential that the durations of pieces are entered accurately on the application form as this information is used to schedule performance times. Orchestras who go over their allocated performance times may be stopped during their performance and will only be eligible to receive a Certificate of Participation.

Music selections have been carefully chosen to equate to the degree of competence which an orchestra is expected to attain within a division. For more information or advice on repertoire selection contact Rosemary Michael.

Novice division is aimed at junior orchestras which have been learning for a very short time, and whose members may have limited skills. There are no set pieces to choose from in this division and directors may choose any pieces which will reflect the current level of achievement for their ensemble.

Many string orchestras perform at the Festival with violin and viola sections standing up. To ensure that each session runs with a minimum of seating changes, these ensembles will be scheduled to perform in succession. If you require your ensemble to stand up while performing it is essential that you tick the appropriate box on the application form.

While teachers or other adults are permitted to play in participating orchestras, the orchestra will only be eligible to receive a Certificate of Participation.

Many of the scores and parts of the music of each division can be perused at the School of Instrumental Music Resource Centre. For further information contact Paul Duhig at the School of Instrumental Music.

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