A brand new set of strings is coming to Wakeland, and it’s bringing major changes to our orchestra class. Next year, the Orchestra program will allow students to take a new class, Orchestra Ensemble, which will serve as the double blocking option. Students who take this class on top of the regular orchestra will get an extra class to work on their skills in a more personalized way.

The new class focuses on playing in smaller groups (ensembles), or alone, in order to give students an opportunity to work on individual skills as well as their solo/ensemble pieces for competition season. Mrs. Duston, Wakeland Orchestra’s conductor, says that the objective is to provide “a class that… [has] small ensembles where students can practice.”, The class will be mostly student led, only with supervision from a teacher. Students in this class will be given parts to practice on their own, and later put together in an ensemble.

The new orchestra class will provide students with opportunities to improve their playing skills in a way that is much more personalized than before. This extra time will help our orchestra to bring home more awards in both school and personal competitions, like UIL and Solo/Ensemble.