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[quote=Anonymous]Again, folks...

You can't expect school instrumental music programs at _any_ school to substitute for private study.

And you therefore can't expect school ensembles to be on par with county or all-state ensembles.

This is, in fact, why such competitive festivals exist: to give the most skilled youth musicians in a given area the opportunity to perform at a much higher level _than_they_do_at_school_.  This is also why auditioned youth orchestras exist, along with the many other opportunities that are available to music students who have had the good fortune to be able to invest time, effort, energy, and expense to develop their talents.

But for students who did not start in preschool, or whose families cannot manage private lessons, school instrumental programs can be an important bridge to something they might not otherwise be able to access.  Or they can allow students who (for example) have already had several years of piano to start trumpet, or to learn to play in a jazz band.

The case might be made that in a catchment area where more families have been engaged in private music study, the school band and orchestra are likely to be better.  That is true.  But again, the most committed youth musicians will not be depending exclusively on school ensembles for their development.  If anything, they may have skills sufficiently far beyond their peers that their playing in the school band or school orchestra might be construed at least partially as an act of service.  That this exercise has value is witnessed by the fact that most state music educators' associations actually won't let students audition for all-state if they do _not_ play in their school ensemble.[/quote]

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