Interlochen Ensemble Assignment

There are eighteen large ensembles that rehearse during the camp season. All of these ensembles, consisting of both vocal and instrumental groups, are divided among the seven ensemble library interns. Each intern is assigned two, three, or four ensembles. Although this can seem unfair at first glance, we all have close to the same amount of work due to the different demands of each ensemble.

This year, I will be working with the World Youth Wind Symphony and the Junior Band. For each of these bands, I will be responsible for preparing, distributing, and collecting all music. I will work closely with the ensemble manager, conductor, and sectional coaches to make sure that everything runs smoothly!

The World Youth Wind Symphony is the top high school band at Interlochen. They have new repertoire and new conductors every week for six weeks. They perform every Saturday night with the Interlochen Symphony Band (the second high school band). This band is abbreviated to WYWS, and is pronounced “why-wiss” or “wee-wees.” I personally prefer “wee-wees” :)

The Junior Band is the only band for kids in grades 3-6. The program consists of three separate two-week sessions, and students can stay for one, two, or all three sessions. Each session concludes with one concert.

In addition to these groups, I will also be the bowing and errata assistant for the World Youth Symphony Orchestra, the top high school orchestra. Orchestra librarians have to mark string bowings into each individual part, which is a very time consuming process. Doing errata consists of detecting any inaccuracies in the music and correcting them, thus avoiding wasted rehearsal time. With pieces like Stravinsky’s Firebird on the docket for this season, there will be quite a bit to do!

Training begins in about a week and a half, and I am very excited to begin. I had really wanted the opportunity to work with both WYWS and Junior Band. I love that I have both extremes (the youngest group and the top group) in the band division, and I am looking forward to learning a lot from my focus on band this summer!