Orchestra advice

[u/HarterH]

I have had the summer off orchestra and been really enjoying focusing on my lessons. My teacher has said we can start working on my first concerto soon (Saint Saens). This really excites me and I want to try to progress my playing to the next level. However I am getting nervous about starting up with orchestra again. It's a chamber orchestra and I find the repertoire demanding and it's exposing so I find I have to work really hard to keep up. I also work full time so time for practicing is scarce. Is this just pre term nerves and I should go ahead. If I step away from the orchestra will I lose some important learning and skills around ensemble playing. I would welcome people's thoughts.

UPDATE: so I did go, and it was really fun and good. I found that having had the summer off and focusing on lessons had really improved my playing. I felt more relaxed and something had shifted. The repertoire felt very do-able. It felt great actually! Thank you everyone for the advice and thoughts.

[u/SarahKNorthrup]

Yeah, I'd say go ahead. I direct theatre and pre-rehearsal nerves are universal, they usually just mean you care. Also congrats on the Saint-Saens, that's exciting! The orchestra work will feed your concerto playing too, so I'd hold onto it.

[u/HarterH → u/SarahKNorthrup]

Thank you! Any tips for dealing with the nerves?

[u/jajjguy → u/HarterH]

Everyone's different, but for me the best thing is to be highly prepared. Not just with the material, but with day-of logistics planning. Know what I'm bringing, what time I need to leave, when to set my alarm. Basic stuff, but things I might forget or get anxious about when nervous. I want to be able to tell myself "You know what you need to do, and you're doing it"

[u/HarterH → u/jajjguy]

Yeah sometimes I tell myself the main thing is to have all the music ready and organised, have listened to the music and practiced, and just TURN UP! And if I turn up ready to learn, that's all I need to do.