For the first time, the Syosset Chamber Orchestra applied to the 2025 American String Teacher Association National Orchestra Festival to engage in a competition among other high-leveled high school orchestras. Ensembles were required to submit a video of two contrasting musical works, concert programs, and recommendations. The Chamber Orchestra performance included forty minutes of repertoire, which included composers from the romantic period to contemporary period.
This national orchestral festival serves as an outstanding opportunity for students and educators to encourage work at the highest level. The practice put in before competition emphasizes the importance of teamwork and communication between students. The orchestral classroom is much like a sports team. Chamber Orchestra teacher Ms. Stephanie Merten said, “For the semester before the competition, each class day is laser focused. The students improve during this time just by being in such a rigorous class environment.” The Syosset Chamber Orchestra consists of a total of 36 students, 20 being All-State recognized musicians. “We have the top string players in this high school in this group. The students are committed to their instruments, and it shows in the work they put in and in their performance level,” said Ms. Merten.
The 3-day trip to Atlanta includes educational workshops, masterclasses, and world class performances like those from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Arkai Duo, Sphinx Organization, and top educators from around the country. They will also be visiting the Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta. “I’m really looking forward to ASTA because I don’t think we’ve ever done something like this before,” said third-year cellist Cody Cheng.
With senior musicians from the previous years leaving and new members joining, this impacts the ensemble differently each year. Ms. Merten said, “With the addition of new students to the group each year, there is a transition period where the students have to get used to playing together. We have to rebuild the team. The struggles this year are the group’s sense of pulse and the true collaboration of the orchestra as a cohesive team.”
Behind the scenes of a competition process, challenges will appear and push a musician in their practice. Therefore, it is important that students engage in skill-building activities on their instruments before starting to polish repertoire. Even at this level, the practice process remains rigorous, even for these students. “It’s very exciting to have the opportunity to attend such a prestigious music conference. I am worried, however, regarding our chances at doing well—we have lots of high-level repertoire to go through and we will be up against the best high schools in the country,” said third-year violinist Winston Zhou. Similarly, violist Valerie Liang said, “We’ve been putting in a lot of work and I really think that the whole preparation process that we’ve been undergoing has really aided us in becoming more mature musicians and people. There’s still a long way to go with the repertoire, and there are definitely many things that we have to dig deeper into, but I’m confident we can put the work in and make great music together.”
We are so lucky at Syosset High School to be at a level to allow us to take advantage of such an opportunity.
Ms. Merten
Competitions of any sort come with hard work put into every practice, dedication to something you want to achieve, and the enjoyment of the process of doing what you love. In terms of music, this is nothing unfamiliar to these musicians. “It takes a certain level of student skill and team focus to even consider competing at this national level. However, I am proud to say that I have seen how our Chamber Orchestra has grown, and there’s no doubt in my mind that we will be able to handle it. We are so lucky at Syosset to be at a level to allow us to take advantage of such an opportunity,” said Ms. Merten.
