Who Can Become A Member

One of our major goals is to rehearse and perform the works of the standard orchestral repertoire. To achieve this goal, we seek 60-70 proficient amateur musicians.

If your ability is unknown to us, you may play a short piece of your choice for us.

We will maintain a waiting list and suggest that those of you who weren’t selected make sure you get put on this list.  

Dues

Membership dues are very important; the revenue from dues constitutes about a third of our annual budgeted expenses. Dues are $50 per year, $25 in September and $25 in January. 

Attendance

We work on the assumption that all members of the Middleton Community Orchestra want to attend rehearsals because we enjoy the experience of making music together.  On becoming a member, we commit to giving our Wednesdays to the group.  We also recognize that for some, it will not always be possible to attend all rehearsals when other commitments get in the way. However, one can miss too many rehearsals and that becomes a problem for the entire group.

Rather than initiate a lawyerly attendance policy, we have opted for a gentler approach. We will take attendance, and if your chair is often vacant, you will be approached by the conductor and asked to reevaluate your priorities. If a satisfactory resolution is not achieved, you will be asked to leave the group. You are welcome to rejoin at a later time if there is an opening and the conflicts have been eliminated.

Please email us in advance if you will not be at a rehearsal.

Please give us one month's notice if you are planning to take a leave or quit the orchestra. We need time to fill your chair.

Rehearsals

Rehearsals are on Wednesday evenings from 7:15 to 9:30, with a 15-minute break. Members are encouraged to be seated and warmed up by the start time. We will make every effort to hand out parts before the first rehearsal. 

Although we want rehearsals to be productive, we also want to have fun. Our idea is to select a particular repertoire that we can rehearse in 5-7 weeks. If we have time, we would also like to toss in a reading or two, either for enjoyment only, or with an eye to future performances. Members are encouraged to offer their preferences.