Orchestras Begin to Enter Schools 1900-1911

At the turn of the century instrumental music was growing in popularity, yet had not yet gained enough public support for inclusion in the public school curriculum. While religious conservatism regarding instrumental music was fading at this time in American history, most music educators at the time believed that stringed instruments could not be taught properly in a group situation, despite the visible successes of teachers in the free violin schools. School orchestras had begun to appear in the mid-west; Jessie Clark had a permanent orchestra in Wichita, Kansas in 1896, and Will Earhart had established a school orchestra in Richmond, Indiana by 1898. By the early 1900s many districts had established grammar orchestras as well as high school orchestras. The students in these orchestras, however, received all of their training from private teachers outside the school, and the orchestras were largely extra curricular activities.

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