Let´s have some fun making music together!
The Guitar Orchestra is accepting registrations for the Spring 2024 semester. We invite you to register now to receive the music by email from our orchestra conductor.
How to Register
Click on the blue button on this page to register for the Guitar Orchestra. Make sure that you are a current member of the BCGS. Membership needs to be valid for the season you are registering. You can renew or become a member at the same time as well. If you are unsure about your membership status, you can ask us by using the contact form on this website.
Location and Time
Rehearsals take place weekly on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 – 9:00 pm (although the room is available to you to arrive, warm up, tune, etc at 6:30 pm) at the Charlestown Senior Living Community, 715 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, MD 21228.
Rehearsal Schedule
Rehearsal 1: February 20
Rehearsal 2: February 27
Rehearsal 3: March 5
Rehearsal 4: March 12
Rehearsal 5: March 19
Small Break
Rehearsal 6: April 9
Rehearsal 7: April 16
Rehearsal 8: April 23
Rehearsal 9: April 30
Rehearsal 10: May 7
Concert
Thursday, May 9th
Repertoire
To be confirmed.
The orchestra is open to everyone regardless of performance levels and styles!
This is a chance to become an active member of the guitar community and share performance experiences with other guitar lovers.
Last items: A sense of humor, and a willingness to enjoy and learn from your mistakes. While we take making music very seriously, that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. The key to that is not fussing over your errors – learn from them, practice, and grow. We all make mistakes; the important thing is to not get too caught up in them. As stated above: if the part seems too hard, let me know. Success can only come if you are confident in what you are playing.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We are looking forward to you joining us!
Here are some questions that we have been asked over the years:
If you have never played in a large ensemble, this will be quite new to you. You will have a part, and play in a section with others playing the same thing. There are generally four parts in the group for each. We work on coordinating the parts, balancing dynamics, and setting out the interpretive gestures. The director conduct the rehearsals – both through talking everyone through the issues, as well as by actually conducting. For that reason, it is important to work on your part during the week, so when we rehearse, you can give some attention to the guy in front waving his arms.
We invite players of all levels to participate, with parts distributed as close to your level of development as possible. If a part is too hard, we can edit to make it more playable. Keep in mind that there are several of you on a part, so if you can’t play everything, someone else in your section can. That way it will all be covered. We want to be as inclusive as possible.
The audition process is simple: Tell the director what pieces you are comfortable playing. It helps to know, for example, if you are confident all over the fingerboard, or if venturing above the 5th fret gives you a sense of vertigo; we want your part to be playable for you. From that information, we can get a good idea of where to place you in the Orchestra. A good rule of thumb to follow if you haven’t done this before is to expect that your part will be (usually) simpler than your solo repertoire. This allows for you to learn your part, play your part, and still have enough focus left over to hear all that is going on around you.
We meet once a week, Thursday evenings from 7-9 PM. We meet at the Charlestown Senior Living Community in Catonsville, 715 Maiden Choice Lane, Catonsville, MD 21228, right inside the Baltimore Beltway 695 at exit 12B. See the schedule above.
We will email pdfs to you in August; new additions will be passed around in rehearsal.
A guitar that can be tuned well, footstool, a music stand, and pencil to take notes.
As we meet once a week, it is important to be at as many rehearsals as possible. I realize that you have busy lives, and there may be times when you can’t make it – work or family engagements, illness, etc.
