Lamar Orchestra
Welcome to the Lamar Orchestra
The Lamar Orchestra is a community—a family of musicians who enjoy making music together.
The Lamar High School Orchestra program, under the direction of Grace Granata and Laurette McDonald, is one of the pre-eminent training grounds for young musicians in Southeast Texas. The orchestra is made up of young people attending Lamar High School, freshmen through seniors, with diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. They possess excellent musical ability an
d outstanding academic records. Graduates of the program have been admitted to top schools throughout the country, such as Oberlin, Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, Boston University, University of Texas, and Georgetown.
The orchestras of Lamar High School strive to represent the utmost in musical excellence in school, district, state, and country. The program consists of 2 orchestras and several chamber ensembles that perform for specials events and outreach programs. Both orchestras have toured extensively and competed in San Antonio, New York, Orlando, and Los Angeles just to name a few. Please see our photo gallery of previous trips.
These trips are made possible through student fundraising, and the support of the community.The students in each of these ensembles are exposed to a wide array of musical repertoire and performances. An array of prominent, professional musicians, serve as mentors and clinicians, throughout the concert season. Students are provided many leadership, social, and team building opportunities throughout the year that create a strong musical environment.
Students are placed in appropriate classes based on audition, interview or questionnaire. Character, attitude, work ethic, citizenship, teamwork, effort and conduct displayed throughout the year are large factors in determining placement.
Lamar Orchestra PolicyBecause of the high profile, these are some requirements for placement:
- Students who have demonstrated a full year of satisfactory participation (musicianship, character, eligibility) in the Lamar Orchestra
- Consistent attendance at all rehearsals and concerts
- We encourage all students to work with a private teacher