What does an Orchestrator (Concert and Stage) do?
An orchestrator takes a composer's musical sketch and turns it into a score for orchestra, ensemble, or choral group, assigning the instruments and voices according to the composer's intentions. People outside the music industry often confuse orchestrators with arrangers, and for good reason: Each picks up a piece of music where the composer left off. The key difference is that whereas the arranger's job is to reinvent an existing piece of music, the orchestrator's job is to develop, enhance, or complete it while adhering as closely as possible to the composer's creative vision. Depending on how much information the composer passes along, this could mean anything from assigning instrumentation and dynamics to writing entirely new chords and harmonies.
At a Glance
Many orchestrators begin as assistants before being hired as lead orchestrators. While film orchestration is a full-time career, concert and stage orchestrators are likely to also work and create as arrangers, copyists, proofreaders, conductors, composers, music directors, bandleaders, or orchestra musicians.
Successful orchestrators have the opportunity to take part in more prestigious projects, to form creative relationships with established composers, or even to find something resembling full-time employment—a rarity in this business—as the primary orchestrator for a television show, opera company, theater company, or symphony orchestra.
Concert and stage orchestrators are usually freelance, and can be hired by composers, producers, bandleaders, music directors, film and television studios, symphony orchestras, opera companies, and theater companies. Because most of the work is freelance and jobs are filled via word of mouth, networking and building an excellent résumé are two important parts of cultivating a career. Working as an assistant to an established orchestrator or working initially as a music copyist or text proofreader are excellent stepping stones to building relationships with major ensembles and regional composers.
- Wide knowledge of instruments
- Deep knowledge of music theory and harmony
- Deep knowledge of music notation
- Sibelius (and other notation software)
- Sequencing software
- MIDI
- Music composition
- Written and verbal communication
- Teamwork
Orchestrators are likely to spend most of their workday alone at a desk, which leads some to describe the career as solitary. It's true that working alone in this way requires focus, discipline, and time management skills. However, it might surprise some to learn that teamwork, communication, and artistic rapport are three of the most important ingredients for success as an orchestrator.
Freelance orchestrators set their own schedules but must typically answer to project deadlines, which are often pressing. Most work out of home offices or studios. A small number of orchestrators are employed by music production houses, in which case they may have a physical office space and official hours.
