What is an Orchestra?

An orchestra is a large group of musicians who play together. The word orcestra once meant 'dancin lace'. In ancient Greek theatres, dancer and musicians performed on a space between the audience and the stage. When Italy invented opera, Italian theatres arranged their musicians in the same way. Eventually the word, orchestra was used to describe the group of musicians and not the place where they performed. In the 18th century Germany, the composers began to write music for four basic group of instruments of the Orchestra. These were the woodwinds (flutes, oboes and bassoons), brass (horns and trumpets), percussion (kettle drums) and strings (violins, violas, cellos and double bass). These groups of instruments are still the basis of the modern symphony orchestra.