Orchestra placement for the 2025–26 school year is underway with students having to complete a Google form to submit auditions by midnight Friday. 

“We firmly believe that the audition process is not only this one submission that they’re giving us,” associate orchestra director Brandon Lucio said. “It’s also a yearly audition, meaning we evaluate our students starting at the beginning of the school year in August and take their character and their playing ability into account for the following year.”

The audition process remains unchanged, but a larger incoming freshman class size and a 6th orchestra, Serenada—placed between the current 3rd and 4th orchestra—will be new to the program.

“I’m excited for next year, but I’m nervous for what [the directors will] think,” junior Sashwath Ravishankar said. “I think like the directors said, [the addition of Serenada] will address the skill gap between Sinfonia and Philharmonic and because we have a lot of new orchestra students, it’ll be good to space students out so they won’t be too many [students] in one class.”

Students were given approximately a month to prepare their auditions with the music designed to challenge students to not only play to the best of their ability, but to show proactivity and take advantage of the month they’re given to practice. 

“I looked at the music and realized that it’s not going to be as easy as I thought it might be,” junior Ishaan Bhakta said. “Especially the third excerpt: Tchiakovsky writes really hard music, so it’s going to be tough.”

However, for students like freshman Khathi Sunkara, the stress of the auditions is worth it for the opportunity to continue in the orchestra program. 

“Of course I’m nervous, so it’s been really stressful, especially with everything else like AP exams,” Sunkara said. “But I really like orchestra, so it’s been a good experience practicing for it and I’m nervous but excited and happy that I’m still continuing it.”