Students who had been members of the Ives Ensemble last year have now moved on to become part of a full orchestra, either the Abbado or the Dudamel Orchestra! This move signals the growth in musical skill and technique that these students have acquired in the last two years. The Ives was originally created as a wind ensemble for newly arrived 6th, 7th and 8th students to the school, to bring them up to the music level of their class peers who had been in the school since the early grades.
Always the goal in our music program is to have each student grow in skill, technique and knowledge and to have it be as rewarding an experience as possible. This year, with our growing number of students (436 in two sites), the challenge on how to provide the best teaching and learning structure possible is going to be met by grouping our students with their musical peers in their section more frequently, ie. more violins playing together, more cellos playing together, all the wind ensemble playing together. These daily sectional rehearsals will lead to eventual rehearsal of the entire orchestra, at which time each section will be well-versed with their section of the music, and when they come together, all can experience the thrill of all sections playing together harmoniously. The anticipation of playing together as a huge orchestra will be exciting and will motivate each section to learn to play excellently well together.