Introductory information for players

Thank you for registering with the DYO. The following is information you will need to know if you become a member of the orchestra. Please read this page and also check our Dates tab for the calendar to make sure you are able to commit to the rehearsals and concerts.

General Information

  • Rehearsals are usually on Friday evenings from 6 to 8pm in the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) rooms, Hanover Hall, 65 Hanover Street. Click here for map
  • There are two ten to eleven week semesters each year with a concert held at the end of each semester.
  • Each section of the orchestra will have a weekend practice session in both the first and second semesters.
  • Information is circulated via emails, our facebook page, and our website.
  • There is an orchestral composition competition held early in the first semester of each year. This is called the Audrey Reid Award and the winner receives $1000 and the joy of having the orchestra play the piece at the next concert.
  • The audition panel/conductors will decide on the seating of the orchestra at the beginning of each semester and there may at times be seating changes within a semester. The aim is for flexibility of the seating plan, so that experienced players are distributed throughout the orchestra and we would like to promote the idea that players will not be seated in a ranked fashion based on skill, but in a way that promotes the best sound from the whole orchestra.

YOUR OBLIGATIONS AS A MEMBER OF THE ORCHESTRA

  • Commit to being present at ALL rehearsals and sectionals. Two or more unexplained absences will lead to a review of your membership. It is a team activity.
  • Notify an unavoidable absence as early as possible by email to [email protected] or text to Ellen Walters 027 4307739.
  • Pay your subscription of $150 directly into our bank account (Dunedin Youth Orchestra Incorporated, Kiwibank, 38 9012 0791955 01, use your name as a reference and subs as the code . No cash please.

Note: We do not wish financial hardship to be a barrier to joining the orchestra. If this applies to you please contact the treasurer Kirsten McAuley, [email protected] (who will treat this with the utmost confidence). 

The DYO is an Incorporated Society, therefore all paid up players and their parents are members of the society.