I record a lot of high school and college music performances with a
Panasonic mini dv camcorder. We have not been happy with the audio
portion of these recordings, although the video is great.

I have been told that the solution is to get a good eternal
microphone. Most of the recommendations I can find are for recording
talking at the front of a meeting, etc. Our problem has to do with a
large, often loud group of instruments in a concert hall. The video
camera is usually toward the rear or side of the hall. The sound is
great to the ear, but on playback it is not very good at all.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a microphone for this sort of
use?

Thanks