<p>My D finished her freshman year at WUStl in May. She is a double major in P-N-P and a foreign language, is taking the premed prereqs and is involved in music as purely an extracurricular activity.</p>
<p>Tryouts are the first week of the fall semester, before classes start. I just checked and they don’t have the 2008 tryout schedule/requirements up yet. Here is the link - you might try it later in July or call the music dept. - [Washington</a> University in St. Louis - Department of Music](<a href=“http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~music/index.html]Washington”>http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~music/index.html)
WashU has a symphony orchestra, a smaller chamber orchestra, ensembles and you can take private lessons. D tried out and received an e-mail a day or two later that she was in the s.o. and was invited as one of seven freshmen to play in the c.o. </p>
<p>Symphony Orchestra -
They practice on Wednesday evenings for 2 1/2 hours or so. The s.o. gives 2-3 concerts per semester, usually on Sunday afternoons.</p>
<p>Chamber orchestra -
They only give one concert per semester. They practice very intensively over a long weekend at the very beginning of each semester and give a concert the Tuesday after. That is it for the semester! They practice all Labor Day weekend in the fall and the weekend before and including Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the spring (since both weekends have a Monday with no classes). </p>
<p>D also took a weekly private lesson with teachers employed by WashU who were violinists with the St. Louis Symphony (had a different teacher each semester).</p>
<p>You can also express an interest in participating in an ensemble when you try out and they will match you up with one. I believe the ensembles set up their own practice schedules. I know that there are opportunities for the ensembles to play for $$$ and they also have a concert maybe once a semester (or it might just be once a year) where the ensembles perform. D did not participate in an ensemble this past year. </p>
<p>D’s analysis of her experience (others may have another opinion!)=
She really enjoyed her participation in both the c.o. and s.o. There are some pretty incredible kids at WashU majoring in all sorts of things who are also astounding musicians. The first seated student violinist last year graduated Phi Beta Kappa and is headed to WashU Medical School. My D said he was just an amazing talent - musically and intellectually. </p>
<p>Many of the tests for the premed prereqs are on Thursdays and D found that a 2 1/2 to 3 hour practice on Wednesday nights caused her to be a little stressed. Another thing D encountered was a lack of time to practice. She was a nearly 7 day a week practicer at home for years but found when trying to excel in her classes at WashU, practicing was the first thing she let go. She felt the music they played for the most part was pretty challenging and felt like she had not had (or taken) the time to practice to where she felt she was doing it justice at times.</p>
<p>A complaint I have as a parent is that the music department was moved off campus last year. It use to be conveniently located very near the South 40, but now it is located on 560 Trinity Street (why it is called the 560 Music Center) near the Delmar Loop. <a href=“Department of Music | Washington University in St. Louis”>Department of Music | Washington University in St. Louis. It is a wonderful facility, but very inconvenient, especially for freshman students, or any student who doesn’t have a car. You have to walk to Mallinckrodt Center from the South 40 and take a shuttle to the 560 Music Center. You have to do this for private lessons, concerts, and the Wednesday night s.o. practices. A 45 minute private lesson can end up taking 2 hours!! I am not sure if ensembles practice on campus or not. D has had times that after a concert the shuttle was too full and some students had to wait (30 minutes or more) for the next shuttle to come. The dress rehersal for concerts is done right before the concert, so the last thing you want to do it arrive at 1 pm to reherse, give a 3 pm concert, then have to stand around waiting for another shuttle if the first one is too full. By then you are tired, hungry, and have a load of homework to do!</p>
<p>All in all, she really enjoyed the experience. She thought that her private teachers were good (especially her 2nd semester teacher). D enjoyed the other musicians and continuing to play an instrument that she loves, even if it is “just for fun”! </p>
<p>Here are some other CC WUStl links I found pertaining to orchestra - </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/379470-chamber-ensembles-eh.html?highlight=orchestra[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/379470-chamber-ensembles-eh.html?highlight=orchestra</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/317381-music-opportunities-non-majors.html?highlight=orchestra[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/washington-university-st-louis/317381-music-opportunities-non-majors.html?highlight=orchestra</a>
- you can see that I asked the very same questions you are asking a year ago!</p>
<p>Please PM me is you have any other specific questions!</p>