Anonymous wrote:PP, which school is that?

Public

Pit is really a different experience than a traditional orchestra. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys musicals -- or is open to experiencing one for the first time.

(I wasn't especially interested in musicals, but as the concertmaster of my public high school's orchestra, I got voluntold to play pit for a school musical and absolutely loved the experience. I've played pit and regular orchestra at the high school, college, community and professional levels.)

Note that modern musicals are quite different from "classic" Broadway musicals. Modern musicals are often written in rock, jazz or other nonclassical styles. So that's also great exposure for young instrumentalists who have only been classically trained.

If you’re in a state (VA, MD) with a regional/all-state orchestra program, then she can only audition for it if she participates in a school orchestra program. For some kids this is a pretty big deal, so maybe something to consider and ask about, especially since she already plays in a private orchestra.

Anonymous wrote:Schools should have marching band, pep band (winter) and Pit. They are all extra curricular. It's helpful to do band/orchestra in school as well to give them the daily playing. Its fine to just do it outside school but most school bands/orchestras, even the higher level classes aren't comparable to the private orchestras.

Should have? Do any private schools have marching bands?

Anonymous wrote:Pit is usually an extracurricular while orchestra is a curricular class. I know Bullis has both a pit orchestra and a curricular orchestra.

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Not universally true.

You need enough students who play instruments and have enough time to fill the spots for all of these things. You want a big school if you want all of the options.

Smaller schools have fewer students who will participate, so fewer options. The level of talent will vary too because they don't recruit for this and the kid obviously isn't choosing the school because of the music, but may be happy to participate once there.

This is OP. Thanks for all the advice! We do prefer a large school and half of our application has orchestra/ensembles. Will look into the details more. Participating in a pit/ collaborating with other performing arts should be a fun and interesting experience as well.

PP, which school is that?

Ours has three levels of orchestra/band as electives, plus marching band, pit orchestra and 4-5 additional ensembles, depending on the year, as ECs.

Not as good as private orchestras but that’s not the point.

Schools should have marching band, pep band (winter) and Pit. They are all extra curricular. It's helpful to do band/orchestra in school as well to give them the daily playing. Its fine to just do it outside school but most school bands/orchestras, even the higher level classes aren't comparable to the private orchestras.

Pit is usually an extracurricular while orchestra is a curricular class. I know Bullis has both a pit orchestra and a curricular orchestra.

Look at larger schools like Flint Hill.

No schools around here have marching band so no pit there.

An orchestra or band may let you be in the percussion section and only focus on marimbas.

Maybe SJC has a decent pit?

Yeah, I guess you could see what the annual musical is if they need your orchestra skills in the "pit."

What sizes are the schools you are considering?

You are likely not looking at schools that are consistently capable of having a larger orchestra/band because you want a smaller, more exclusive school.

Just read a different thread about disappointment in the school’s performing art, and made me think about DD’s school choices as well.

DD have been playing an instrument for 5 years, plays at her current MS and belongs to an outside youth orchestra.

Most of the independent high schools we are looking at actually don’t have an orchestra (they have band, choir dance etc) but when I spoke with admission departments/asked about options during tours, many would say “We have an orchestra pit for theater or events”.

DD already does outside youth orchestra and she says it’s fine not to do it at school but oh well. How come most of the schools would not have orchestra? I guess low participation/low demand…