An orchestra playing in perfect unison is an awe-inspiring sight. All members of the orchestra seem to have one mind. But in reality, there’s a lot of competition beneath that veneer of unity.
The musicians admit that there is competition and stress in orchestra, whether they like it or not. There are four orchestras in Saratoga: the audition-only Saratoga Strings and String Orchestra, the non-audition Philharmonic Strings, and the Freshman Orchestra.
“In the higher orchestras, when there’s a solo or a high-[ranking] seat, it’s really competitive,” sophomore violinist Christina Chin said.
Chin, one of the concertmasters of the Philharmonic Strings, said that she doesn’t enjoy pressure very much.
“I didn’t try out for the higher orchestra last year because I didn’t want all that competition,” Chin said.
Even freshmen, who are placed into a separate orchestra for their grade level, are not immune from the effects of pressure and competition.
“Some people think they’re better than the person in front of them,” freshman violinist Jonathan Fung said. “They think, ‘Oh, that guy doesn’t deserve his position; I deserve that spot.’”
In the orchestra, every member gains a ranking. The better players sit in the front, closer to the conductor and more on view to the audience, while the rest sit farther from the conductor.
According to Fung, playing in the back can be demoralizing.
“Basically, people in the back don’t really care [about playing well],” Fung said. “They’re like, ‘OK, screw it since no one cares anyways.’”
Additionally, it’s harder to focus while sitting in the back.
“It’s hard to see the conductor [from the back],” Fung said. “Being far away also makes [people] distracted.”
According to Fung, this sort of behavior is so common, it has its own name: back-row syndrome.
As if the regular orchestra pressure isn’t enough, auditions drive competitiveness through the roof.
“Since there were only three seats in Saratoga Strings (the highest ensemble), I felt there was a lot of pressure on me,” Fung said.
Auditions, which are performed in front of a guest conductor or teacher, usually take place in late February, but the results usually come a month later.
Audition results can produce extreme jubilation or disappointment.
“At first, I felt really sad and discouraged. It felt like all those hours practicing were wasted,” said sophomore violinist Alexander Yeh, who at first, was put in the lower Philharmonic Orchestra because of an error. “But after seeing that I made it, I felt joyful because I hadn’t wasted my time. It was also good because my friend [who made it in] couldn’t rub it in my face anymore.”
However heated and intense the competition might be among the school’s dozens of violinists, who make up more than half the orchestra, the air is more peaceful in other sections.
Sophomore violist Linus Lu, who is one of the highest-ranked players in the orchestra, said that the viola section didn’t have much competition and that they all “got along.”
The reason there is so much competition in the violin section as compared to other sections may be that violins have almost twice the number of people as any other section. More people, more pressure.
“There’s a lot of [violins] and there’s a lot of strong players and a lot of them want the opportunity to hold a high position,” Lu said.
According to music department chair Michael Boitz, competition exists. However, he said that he dislikes it.
“If it was my choice, I would get rid of auditions and base [ensembles] off of grade level,” Boitz said.
However, Boitz felt that having no auditions would be unfair.
“It’d be unfair to a student who’s been working very hard [on their instrument],” Boitz said. “You wouldn’t put someone with Spanish AP skills in Spanish 1, so you wouldn’t put someone with many years experience in Freshman Orchestra.”
Though competition may be inevitable in a highly competitive school such as Saratoga, Boitz maintained that it wasn’t a very important issue.
“It should not matter what group they’re in or what position they have,” Boitz said. “For us it’s about the camaraderie of the ensemble and their love of the music.”
