We're fortunate to live in a metropolitan area with a handful of decent quality youth orchestras. Aside from the obvious issue of which one or ones accept my daughter (she's in one this year, and will be re-auditioning for that one in June, along with 2 others. There's a fourth that's most geographically convenient, but it doesn't audition until fall, so it's hard to figure out how she'd ever finesse that). My head is swimming right now, just curious (especially as we watch a few end-of-year concerts) what criteria do you use to evaluate youth orchestras? One specific question is, do you prefer an orchestra that plays simplified repertoire really well, or one that plays the "real" stuff, but its reach sometimes exceeds its grasp? Would you choose a better conductor over better student musicians, or vice versa?
Also, how much does it matter how good the youth orchestra is? Certainly, for college auditions (let alone professional auditions down the road), how she plays will be more important than where she learned to play that way. I think I just wish I had a crystal ball to know which YO would serve her best.
She'll be in 8th grade next year. Maybe I just need to have a cup of chamomile tea and forget about it.
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