Daylin Alvarez is a member of the Bloomingdale High School Orchestra. She plays the violin and is very talented, reflecting the time puts in each day practicing. She is now First Chair Violin.

As the most skilled and knowledgeable violinist of the orchestra, she is also the Concertmaster, the chief intermediary between the musicians and the conductor. The concertmaster is responsible for dictating bowings to the first violin section; playing solo passages in the absence of a guest soloist; understanding the conductor's ideas and communicating them in technical terms to the rest of the orchestra; leading the orchestra in tuning before rehearsals and performances; and assisting with aspects of the orchestra's management. While conductors may come and go-with differing styles and approaches - the concertmaster provides the orchestra with consistent and technically oriented leadership.

The Concertmaster must have these professional skills:

•    Violin performance
•    Sight-reading
•    Deep knowledge of orchestral repertoire
•    High-level instrumental proficiency and technical knowledge
•    Dictating bowings for the string section
•    Soloing
•    Leadership
•    Verbal communication

If the First Chair Violinist is female, the position is sometimes called the Chambermistress, but Chambermaster is more commonly used.

(Click on any picture to enlarge it.)

Bloomingdale HS has three orchestra levels: Intermezzo, Symphonic, and - the highest - Concert.   The First Violin is welcomed on stage and acknowledges the audience applause   First Chair "warms up" the orchestra     First Chair, along with the audience, welcomes the conductor Conductor shakes hands with First Chair as thanks for the work the First Chair has done.               The orchestra acknowledging the audience applause following their orchestra pieces Post concert pics Note that Karen, this year, is the VP for Fund Raising, and she made $282 from raffling Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game seats. Nice!

Information on a Concertmaster comes mostly from the Berklee College of Music (Berklee) Website.

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