The orchestra program now has a system for students to duel each other via playing sheet music.
In orchestra, seating hierarchy is determined by auditions held at the beginning of the year. If a student decides that they want to try advancing in the hierarchy they can choose to challenge a higher seat for their position.
“I recently challenged a chair above me in the violin section,” violinist junior Sunny Lau said. “We played Vivaldi’s‘ Spring’ first movement and unfortunately I played worse than my opponent.”
A person of higher chair will be given the option to deny the challenge. If they choose to do so then the challenger can challenge the chair above the person who declined.
“I like the concept of these challenges as it gives you an opportunity and an objective to get better at your instrument,” Lau said. “For competitive people like me , it really drives us to get better especially if we lose once.”
More recently, orchestra director Corey Wicks puts the two challengers in the back of the orchestra room behind closed doors. This provides unbiased judgment for Wicks as he does not know which student is playing the piece. At the end, he picks whether or not there is a change in the seating hierarchy.
