Pennsylvania 6-5000: Full Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Victor López's arrangement respects the infectious energy of the original while scaling it perfectly for intermediate orchestras. The flexibility to perform it with strings and percussion alone or expanded to full orchestra means you can program it at multiple points in the season without needing the full instrumentation every time. Most importantly, it gives your students permission to have fun while learning solid big band style.

Bouncy, nostalgic energy with a wink to the audience. The chart pulses with the swing sensibility of the 1940s while remaining perfectly playable by a school orchestra, delivering that big band shimmer without the exhaustion of a true ensemble chart.

Intermediate orchestras ready to explore jazz and popular music standards with solid technical foundation and rhythmic security. The Grade 2 level makes it accessible for mixed-ability ensembles while remaining engaging enough to hold stronger players' interest.

• Lean into the rhythmic clarity of the accompaniment figures; they're what make the tune swing. Ask your sections to think 'crisp and bouncy' rather than heavy.
• The ringing phone gag works best when it lands precisely on the beat. If you use a cell phone ring sound, rehearse the exact moment it enters so it feels intentional, not accidental.
• Treat the melody line with straightforward expression; the arrangement's charm comes from the supporting parts, not from oversinging the tune itself.
• Bring out the internal counter-melodies that Victor López has woven into the voices. They're what give this chart its personality beyond the main theme.

Program this as a lighter moment in a concert that might otherwise lean classical, or use it as an opener to signal an evening of twentieth-century popular music. Its 1:43 duration makes it ideal for pacing between longer works, and the novelty element (the Pennsylvania exchange explanation, the phone ring) gives your audience something to smile about.

• Swing rhythm and syncopation within a Grade 2 framework
• Sectional independence and inner-voice awareness
• Big band style articulation and phrasing
• Ensemble cohesion in a non-classical idiom
• Rhythmic precision with flexible, dance-like feel