orchestra
a group of performers on various musical instruments, including especially stringed instruments of the viol class, clarinets and flutes, cornets and trombones, drums, and cymbals, for playing music, as symphonies, operas, popular music, or other compositions.
(in a modern theater)
the space reserved for the musicians, usually the front part of the main floor (orchestra pit ).
the entire main-floor space for spectators.
the parquet.
(in the ancient Greek theater) the circular space in front of the stage, allotted to the chorus.
(in the Roman theater) a similar space reserved for persons of distinction.
Origin of orchestra
1Words Nearby orchestra
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use orchestra in a sentence
As a director, you’re essentially a conductor of an orchestra.
How Making a Film Led Isabel Sandoval to Come Out as Trans | Eugene Robinson | October 20, 2020 | OzyIn school, I was involved in the orchestra as the band, the marching band.
Though the pandemic has put all orchestras, the Philharmonic included, in a perilous position, it has also highlighted how such institutions might rethink the conventions of classical music.
New York Philharmonic horn player Leelanee Sterrett says that every orchestra member brings “a different interpretation to their parts each time.”
It doesn’t donate to the city’s vaunted orchestra, and isn’t a member of the region’s chamber of commerce.
The Big Corporate Rescue and the America That’s Too Small to Save | by Lydia DePillis, Justin Elliott and Paul Kiel | September 12, 2020 | ProPublica
People scream, the orchestra stops playing, and the stage manager whisks the diva into the wings.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSince the arrival of Chorus Master Donald Palumbo, the Met chorus now commands that same level of excellence as the orchestra.
She could no longer go to the orchestra; she was confined to a wheelchair.
The Nurse Coaching People Through Death by Starvation | Nick Tabor | November 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTorchestra seats cost $100; mezzanine is $75; and balcony, $50.
The organ itself is part of the show, as it can rise or drop independent of the orchestra pit.
How to Save Silent Movies: Inside New Jersey’s Cinema Paradiso | Rich Goldstein | October 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI asked of Kellermann, who sat next, "and how is it one finds such an orchestra in such a place?"
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayWhy should not Aristide, past master in drumming, find an honourable position in the orchestra of the Tournée Gulland?
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. LockeMrs. S. said she was familiar with it from having heard Thomas's orchestra play it in New York.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayBut the quiet old town, with its musical name and its great orchestra, will long remain in my memory.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FaySo he took my copy and played the orchestra part which is indicated above the piano part, and I played without notes.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy Fay
British Dictionary definitions for orchestra
/ (ˈɔːkɪstrə) /
a large group of musicians, esp one whose members play a variety of different instruments: See also symphony orchestra, string orchestra, chamber orchestra
a group of musicians, each playing the same type of instrument: a balalaika orchestra
Also called: orchestra pit the space reserved for musicians in a theatre, immediately in front of or under the stage
mainly US and Canadian the stalls in a theatre
(in the ancient Greek theatre) the semicircular space in front of the stage
Origin of orchestra
1Derived forms of orchestra
- orchestral (ɔːˈkɛstrəl), adjective
- orchestrally, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for orchestra
A group of musicians who play together on a variety of instruments, which usually come from all four instrument families — brass, percussion, strings, and woodwinds. A typical symphony orchestra is made up of more than ninety musicians. Most orchestras, unlike chamber music groups, have more than one musician playing each musical part.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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