I've learned a lot of the major concertos, though for a lot of them I haven't played them in a while so I was thinking this would be a good opportunity to get them under my fingers again. are there any in particular that are staples for violin majors?
I was also thinking of learning some more bach but I didn't know which of those would be good choices, and my teacher has mentioned some show pieces but I'm not familiar with a lot of those.
also, would it be wise to learn a few orchestral excerpts or should I wait?
If you have time on your hands and a current teacher who is a professional symphony player, this isn't a bad time to get major excerpts under your belt. You'll come back to those repeatedly, and a familiarization pass is useful.
I notice from your previous threads (including this one: LINK), you mention you hadn't done solo Bach, and you've generally learned single movements of your concertos. You should probably expect that solo Bach and full concertos will be part of your future. But definitely talk to your future teacher as well as your current one about what gaps you should be filling.
It's unclear from your previous statements that you've done a "lot" of the major concertos, by the way -- you reference doing Mozart 5, and a single movement of Kabalevsky, Barber, Bruch, and Mendelssohn, and then Sibelius.
Once through all 6 Bach Sonatas and Partitas (all movements)
Once through Paganini caprices
All Kreutzer, all Dont op. 35, all Rode
Mozart 3, 4, and 5 full concertos
Basic concertos, all movements: Kabalevsky, Bruch, Mendelssohn, Lalo, Wieniawski
A few other medium-level concertos like Khachaturian, Vieuxtemps 4/5, Barber, Saint Saens, Dvorak
2-3 or so higher level concertos like Sibelius, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Walton, Glazunov, Bartok, etc.
One of my teachers had more of a scenario approach. In other words, what should a young violinist be able to do, on a practical basis? So the answer to that was:
Take a professional orchestra audition. One Romantic concerto first movement that is deeply ingrained and suitable for an audition (Tchaikovsky, Brahms, or Sibelius, preferably), the first movement of Mozart 4 or 5, and the most common orchestral excerpts.
Take a casual orchestra audition. That's typically two contrasting pieces, one fast and one slow, that you can take out and play with minimum preparation. Useful for school or community orchestras.
Take a conservatory audition. A full Romantic/20th-century concerto (or at least the first movement), a virtuosic showpiece of a different period, a solo Bach S&P dance movement and its double, and a Paganini caprice. (Maybe add a classical sonata, such as a Beethoven, as well.)
Play a wedding, funeral, offertory, etc. One short, not especially difficult piece suitable for this kind of thing, that can be played with essentially no preparation. (Meditation from Thais, Ave Maria, etc.)
Impress someone. Some short work that's always in your fingers, for when someone says "so you're a violinist, play me something".
And I know of students who are getting into good schools (not Curtis or Juilliard, but maybe the next level down) who can't necessarily check off every item on Susan's list.
To everybody else -- the program my son is in is for rather advanced kids, so this would be a list for a top music program. At 13 my son is about halfway through this list, apart from Paganini and etudes. He's really behind on etudes.
Err... next time round that is... :-\