String Orchestra Music - 2025-2026
String Orchestra Music - 2025-2026
Welcome Orchestra Directors
Early String Orchestra Series
Grade ½
Spring Fest - David Hinds
Apple Orchard Picnic - Emily Golan
Grumpy Old St. Nick - arr. John M. Pasternak
Accent Orchestra Series
Grade 1
In Memory of Goodbye - Matt Arnett
Seafarer's Waltz - Doug Spata
A Beethoven Christmas - arr. John M. Pasternak
Ancient Crossroads - Caryn Wiegand Neidhold
Breakthrough Orchestra Series
Grade 1½
Kingsfold - arr. Deborah Baker Monday
Mystic Voices - Peter Blair
Flagship - Doug Spata
The First Christmas Tree - arr. Peter Blair
Voyager Orchestra Series
Grade 2 to 2½
Beneath the Weeping Willow - arr. Aaron Fryklund
Blue Horizon - Susan H. Day
Into the Depths - Matt Arnett
Through the Looking Glass - Steve Parsons
Hanukkah! - arr. Steven L. Rosenhaus
Nemesis - Jay Coles
Concert Orchestra Series
Grade 3 to 3½
Basically Bach - arr. Tyler Arcari
Romanze - arr. Caryn Wiegand Neidhold
Ai que Broma! - arr. Dión Morales
Ships! - arr. Deborah Baker Monday
Dark Forest Dance - Susan H. Day
Symphonic Orchestra Series
Grade 4 & Up
A Hipster Hootenanny - Peter Sciaino
COMPOSERS OF NEW STRING ORCHESTRA MUSIC
Tyler Arcari
Matt Arnett
Peter Blair
Jay Coles
Susan H. Day
Aaron Fryklund
Emily Golan
David Hinds
Deborah Baker Monday
Dión Morales
Caryn Wiegand Neidhold
Steve Parsons
John M. Pasternak
Steven L. Rosenhaus
Peter Sciaino
Doug Spata
Grade Level Guide: Make a Musical Match
Ranging in difficulty from beginning to advanced, our String Orchestra music is meticulously edited and follows a strict six-part grading system, reflected in our color-coded series.
Grade ½
- Playable by first year students with limited study
- Uses only the first six notes of the D Major Scale
- Moderate tempo and 4/4 time signatures
- All sections have an opportunity to play the melody
Grade 1
- Playable by 1st year groups
- Keys of D and G; first position (Bass 3rd position); careful writing of low 2 for Violins and Violas while avoiding high 3
- Introducing 2/4 and 3/4 time signatures with whole, half, quarter and eighth note patterns with no syncopation
- Detache, pizzicato, staccato, legato and marcato bowings to expand your students' technique with the right hand
Grade 1½
- Playable by 2nd year musicians
- Incorporates dotted quarter-notes and simple syncopated rhythms
- Expanded right hand technique of 2-note slurs, hooked bows and adjacent string crossings
- Open string double stops
Grades 2 to 2½
- Playable by 2nd and 3rd year groups
- Introducing 6/8 time signatures
- New key signatures including C, A, F and Bb
- New positions for Violin, Cello and Bass
- More complex rhythms and fingered double stops
Grades 3 to 3½
- Playable by advanced middle school and high school musicians
- Exploring higher positions for all strings
- Expanded literature for advancing programs
Grades 4 & Up
- Playable by high school musicians
- First Violins explore 5th position while second Violins and Violas move through 3rd position
- Cellos expand to 4th position while the Bass section works through 5th position