Outer space and science themes are popular for student concerts and I've got a lot of great selections here for your string orchestra.  Lower grade pieces sound great performed by high school students and young students alike.

What you may not know about me is I'm a bit of a science and space nut.  My first college degree was in Petroleum Engineering and I still love using that part of my brain by reading about science and learning more about our world and worlds beyond - and writing music that inspires wonder.  

​Please check out the following pieces for your ensemble.  I've added a few extra words about the piece to help you in your decision process.

Caryn Neidhold
Galaxy Jam is Twinkle in E minor with a few extra compositional techniques like inversion and canon.  The best thing is the "jam session" part of this piece can big as small or as galactic as you want.  Include instrument percussion, audience participation, and as many student solos as possible.  This piece works great with and without drum set.

GALAXY JAM
​JW Pepper Editor's Choice & Stanton's 5-Star Feature
​ASTA Eclectic Styles Reading Session
Caryn Wiegand Neidhold
Grade 1.5
String Orchestra - Excelcia Music

Jam among the stars with Galaxy Jam, an inventive rock take on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in E minor. The jam section encourages your students to be creative with instrument percussion improv and solos with suggested notes.
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​Eclipse has an expansive feel from the start with layers upon layers creating new sounds.  A few features for your orchestra is that the basses get a moment of stardom with easy low notes, and students can add glissandos to get them out of 1st position.  Improv solos are encouraged but there are written out solos for students who will feel more secure with extra help.

ECLIPSE
​JW Pepper Editor's Choice
Caryn Wiegand Neidhold
Grade 1.5
String Orchestra - Carl Fischer

This easy-to-learn rock-style tune will energize your orchestra and introduce improvisation in a fun setting! With a flexible score including optional violin 2, piano, and drum set, your students can achieve a big, impressive sound. The improv section includes a notated solo option in every part, or students can improv while the rest of the orchestra vamps in the background.
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Island of Stars is a very easy piece that should be quick to rehearse and put together for a performance.  The open E strings punctuate the feeling of stars in the sky.  This piece was published in middle of the pandemic and never got a great recording.  Please use your great ear to hear the possibilities.
Island of Stars
Caryn Wiegand Neidhold
LUDWIGMASTERS
Grade 1.0
​
Island of Stars is a wonderful early ensemble experience for your young orchestra. Written in two and three parts, the students feel supported yet part of an orchestra experience. The middle section uses pizzicato with enough time for your students to switch from arco and back again. In the mode of E dorian , your students will feel transported to a mystical island under a blanket of stars.
Even high school students will have to count for Black Hole.  The counting is straight forward but sometimes surprising which will keep your students on their toes.  The cellos and basses get a great melody in the middle of the piece.  At the end the swirling notes feel like being sucked into a black hole.
Black Hole
Caryn Wiegand Neidhold
GRAND MESA STRINGS

Grade 1

Beware the black hole! This fun and dramatic piece is perfect for beginning ensembles. All sections get to play the minor melodies, and with too many opportunities to play in the rests, students will furiously count to avoid playing in a black hole. An optional accelerando at the end emphasizes the inescapable gravity of a black hole. Add some STEAM* into your curriculum with a worksheet on black holes and counting. (*Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics)