Chamber Music
The chamber music ensemble is a semi-professional ensemble made up of Skidmore students and top players from several regional professional orchestras, including the Albany Symphony, Berkshire Symphony, Schenectady Symphony, and Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra. Skidmore's unique orchestral program emphasizes students in the most important orchestral positions and features students in the most important solos. Our professional members create a unique atmosphere where students participate in a living orchestral lesson each week with the top professional players assisting our students in each rehearsal. This combination of professional and student players creates an exciting synergy and an exciting concert atmosphere for players and audience members alike.
Student soloists are also featured each year as winners of the Orchestral Concerto Competition.
Joining the Chamber Music ensemble is an easy process. You simply play a live audition for the conductor (Professor Holland). The audition has three parts:
- Playing one or two prepared excerpts (about six minutes), one of which shows off your technical abilities (fast notes) and another that shows your more lyrical abilities (sustained slower notes, especially in various ranges). The most important part is that you prepare. The occasional wrong note is not important in this audition. The most important thing is the overall level of playing you demonstrate.
- Sight-reading a brief orchestral excerpt.
Chamber Music Ensemble in the News:
- Choral, instrumental music top concert programs, spring 2013
- Choral concert: An Evening of Psalms, November 2012
- Chorus to present music by French composers, Spring 2011
- Chorus to present debut performance in Zankel Music Center, Spring 2010
If you are thinking of auditioning for the chorus, please contact Michael Emery or Jan Vinci (518) 580-5320 and request an audition date and time.
| Residency Detail |
| Skidmore College Orchestra Residency 2007–2008 Michele Kim Assistant Concertmaster New York Philharmonic |
| Skidmore College Orchestra Residency 2006–2007 Hai-Ye Ni Principal Cellist The Philadelphia Orchestra |
| Skidmore College Orchestra Residency 2005–2006 Mark Ludwig Boston Symphony Orchestra Photo Gallery |
| Skidmore College Orchestra Residency 2005–2006 Michael Ludwig Associate Concertmaster Philadelphia Orchestra |