Orchestra Policies

Joining || Membership Fees || Rehearsals ||
Concert Attire || Tickets || Music ||
String Rotation || Bad Weather / Emergency || Administrative Contacts

The Symphony of the Potomac will not tolerate discrimination, inappropriate behavior, or sexual harassment, and will take prompt corrective action to remedy any such offense.

Joining the Orchestra

All musicians wishing to join the orchestra are encouraged to audition at the beginning of the season.

While new members may be added later into the season as needs allow, and while we always encourage current members to invite additional qualified musicians to join us, all such invitations must go through the music director. In addition, the librarian must be contacted at least a week in advance to ensure parts will be available for the new member(s).

Membership Fees

The Symphony of the Potomac is a self-supporting non-profit group. We rely on many hours of volunteer work by our members to help keep our expenses low.

The rental of music is a major expense for the orchestra, a fee which is only partially covered by an annual membership fee of $50.00. We ask that this fee be paid by all voluntary musicians including students.

For new members, this fee must be received prior to signing out music for the season. Returning members are asked to remit their fee by the second rehearsal of the season.

No member will be denied the opportunity to perform with us if this fee presents an excessive financial burden for them. Those members unable to afford the membership fee should apply to the board for a waiver. The board will hold requests for waiving the fee in strict confidence. All members are encouraged to volunteer their time and talents to help fund our concert season and keep our membership fee low.

Please note: Because replacing lost parts incurs an additional cost to the symphony, members who lose or fail to return parts will be assessed the full replacement cost of all missing parts plus an additional fee to cover the expense incurred.

Rehearsals

Rehearsals take place primarily on Thursday evenings from 7:45 to 10:15 PM with additional rehearsals added immediately before a scheduled performance. Detailed schedules for each concert, including instrumentation, dates of string rehearsals, changes in venue and the like, will be posted on the orchestra's website (symphonypotomac.org/notes.html) early in each rehearsal sequence.

Please make sure that you are aware of the effect of any schedule changes on your personal obligations to the orchestra.

There is a pre-concert rehearsal for each symphonic program approximately 1.5 hours prior to the concert time. Please see the calendar and subsequent schedules for exact times. All personnel should be at the pre-concert rehearsal ready to play at the appointed time.

If you must miss all or part of a rehearsal, please notify the appropriate personnel manager and your section leader in advance and make arrangements for your music to be at rehearsal. If you anticipate recurring problems with this, please photocopy your parts when you first receive them and leave the originals with the librarian.

String players: as much as possible we try to provide a part for every person, but there are occasions when this might not be possible. In this case, please make sure your stand partner has any necessary parts if you are going to miss a rehearsal. If you discover that your schedule forces you to miss several rehearsals, please contact the music director, your section leader, and/or the appropriate personnel manager as early as possible to discuss your participation in the program for which we are preparing. You might want to step out one program and return at a later date when your schedule is more accommodating.

Players having chronic problems with musical preparation, attendance, or any of the other customary, routine aspects of orchestral life may be asked to leave the orchestra.

Concert Attire

Men: Black Tie is the standard of dress for men at performances. This means a tuxedo with white dress shirt and formal black bow tie, or a customary black suit with regular white shirt and black bow tie.

Women: Long Black is the standard of dress for women at performances. This means a long black dress or black top with long black skirt or pants. Conservative jewelry is acceptable, but please avoid accessories in varied colors in order to maintain your "basic black" dress.

Tickets

All concert attendees over the age of 18, including families and friends of orchestra members, must have a paid ticket. Members can purchase tickets for their guests at a cost of $10 each. This can usually be done the last few rehearsals before the concert.

Music

All members must be sure that their current contact information (address / telephone number / email address) are on record with the Orchestra Librarian and the appropriate personnel manager.

Members without a permanent mailing address will not be permitted to take music.

Your member fee will be requested before you will be permitted to sign out music.

String players must record their names (clearly) and the identifying number of all parts signed out on the sheet provided by the Orchestra Librarian.

Music is not delivered to or picked up from your stand. The librarian sets out the music on either a side table or at the front of the stage prior to rehearsal. Please arrive early enough to retrieve your parts before the start of rehearsal. If you are not taking your music home, please return it to the librarian before you leave. Do not leave it on your stand or chair.

All music must be turned in immediately following each concert. Please do not take the music home with the intention of returning it at a later date. You will be charged full replacement cost plus a processing fee for any music that is not returned immediately after the concert.

If you have music signed out and cannot attend a rehearsal or concert, you are responsible for making sure that your music or a copy gets to the rehearsal or concert so that your part can be played by a substitute.

If you must ship your music back to the librarian, please use a service that includes tracking so you can be sure your music is received.

String Rotation

Except for the first stands, string seating is free to rotate from concert to concert. Section leaders have the option of assigning seating at the first rehearsal for each program.

Bad Weather Policy

In general, scheduled rehearsals will be held whenever possible.

If we must cancel a rehearsal, or if our rehearsal space is closing, we will send out notice via email and post it on the website. Such decisions will be made by 3 PM whenever possible. If the cancellation decision is made late in the day (after 5 PM), we will initiate our phone tree to get the message out. If you are in doubt as to whether or not a rehearsal will take place, call the music director, one of the personnel managers or the librarian.

With few exceptions, our cancellations in recent year have been under circumstances when the decision was taken out of our hands. Player loyalty and tenacity in foul weather have been exemplary, but don't hesitate to call to get the latest, official word, or to let us know about your situation. If a rehearsal is held but conditions in your neighborhood make it impossible for you to get there, please notify your personnel manager as you would for any absence.

Since we rehearse in MCPS facilities, we must follow the school system's policy for weather and other emergencies:

Montgomery County Public Schools Emergency Policy

• MCPS will cancel all evening activities when schools close early or for the entire day.
• If schools should complete the day, a decision will be made by the CUPF board who oversees the community use of these facilities. Evening, weekend, and holiday closings will be posted on their website at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/cupf.

Da Capo

Administrative Contacts

Music Director: Joel Lazar. 301-469-0989 / 301-467-6309 cell. joellazar@comcast.net
• Personnel Manager (Strings): Allie Laban Baker. 410-480-1069. labanbaker@verizon.net
• Personnel Manager (Wind/Brass): Harriet Guskin. 301-299-8233. h.guskin@gmail.com
• Orchestra Librarian: Margaret Dikel. 301-881-0122 / 240-602-6043 cell. mdikel@verizon.net

Da Capo | Site Navigation