[TPIN] Orchestra section hierachy

[Michael Anderson]

One that is popular here is "Associate Principal." That usually means that
the Principal won't play the concertos and other pieces considered minor in
order to save up for the big blows in the concert. On these pieces the
associate princ. Will play first trumpet. Associate is usually either the
2nd or 3rd player in the section. This position is also sometimes called
"3rd/assistant 1st"

I actually think this is a good idea for orchestras that are very busy. I
understand that there are some European orchesras that have 2 complete
rotating sections because the work load is so heavy.

MA


> From: Simon Richards <s.richards at physics.org>
> Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:15:26 +0100
> To: <tpin at tpin.okcu.edu>
> Subject: [TPIN] Orchestra section hierachy
> 
> I have seen the following terms relating to positions held by orchestral
> trumpet players:
> 
> Principal
> Section Principal
> Section Leader
> Assistant Principal
> Co-Principal
> Co-Section Leader (I'm sure that, grammatically, that should be Section
> Co-Leader)
> 
> Can anyone give me a good explanation of all of there positions?
> 
> I thought I understood the concept of a Principal who leads the section,
> perhaps with an Assistant or Co- Principal who leads when the Principal is
> not there. And I thought perhaps that Section Leader and Section Principal
> were different terms for Principal. But I see that some trumpet sections
> have, for example, a Principal and a Section Principal, or more than one
> Principal, and so on.
>