<p>I have not had contact in five years. I do know that they have five tenured faculty, one of whom is on leave, and one assistant professor. (Their well-known ethnomusicologist, who used to teach mostly on the Smith campus, has left.) And one assistant prof. Five years ago, the orchestra had around 35-40 members (from Amherst, supplemented primarily by UMass students). They also seem not to have replaced their composer (and opera guy, which is why - now almost 10 years ago, my d. had considered Amherst, but then didn’t apply.)</p>
<p>But you are absolutely right. The college matters more unless the student has very specialized interests.</p>