What is the best amateur music?

If you believe the reviews of a couple of orchestras that I've played in then I have been part of 'one of the best amateur orchestras in the UK', and in Singapore, an 'amateur orchestra you would have to search long and hard to find an equal for'. These reviewers are, of course, solely judging the quality of the performance, in a broad comparison with performances of full time professional orchestras. And from a music perspective I tend to feel that the higher the standard the better. 

On the other hand, particularly with the last orchestra I played with in Birmingham, although the music was generally good, occasionally fabulous, and on rare occasions pretty dire, the atmosphere of the orchestra was not quite so brilliant. There was a covert war amongst the cellos against the leader. We would typically play to 1/4 full audiences, so to make up the money the orchestra's soul was sold to go and play concerts hundreds of miles away. Things got worse after I arrived here; they went away to do one concert and thought the organisers were doing the publicity, the organisers thought the orchestra were. The audience was smaller than the cello section...

Compare this to the orchestra that I guested with last night. From Nanyang Polytechnic, the orchestra is formed of players who have only played for perhaps 3 years. The Dodgess and I turned up to the first rehearsal we were required for, 2 nights before the concert, and our hearts initially sank. The ability of some of the players was worse than mediocre. The music was all pop.


But, the players were loving the music. Loving being part of an orchestra. When rehearsal finished early, the other cellists went off to practice, while the Dodgess and I went for an ever so slightly guilty cake. The concert was far from perfect from a music perspective. But all the players were proud to be playing. The audience was a packed house; for the orchestra yesterday a concert is a rare enough event to get everyone out for. 


And what's more they were delighted to have the help from the Dodgess and I. All the cellists were keen to talk to me, and, somewhat surprisingly, madly keen to take a photo with me; a concept that I can't quite grasp...


Similarly, just before we left the UK, the Dodgess performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the orchetra that my Mum plays in. Even she would admit it's not the most accurate orchestra in the world, however the orchestra again loved the music. And the audience again, was packed.


Whilst I think playing in these orchestras on a week in week out basis would drive me crazy, playing with NYP did turn out to be fantastic. I certainly enjoyed this concert more than the bad Birmingham concerts, probably even the mediocre ones! There is so much that orchestra could learn about making a concert an event; both for the players and also for the audiences!