All-Region students orchestrate a final performance

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Sarah Boutouis

Practicing with the orchestra, sophomore Christine Verzo follows the music. Orchestra students in the process of auditions for All-Region choir attended a recent clinic to help finalize their pieces.

Vibha Immedisetty, Guest Contributor
December 14, 2021

The Region 24 orchestra clinic and concert on Saturday wrapped up the final stretch of many students’ audition process in order to place into one of these prestigious orchestras. 

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Gone are the days of Zoom and virtual performances as orchestra is holding its fall concert Tuesday evening, beginning at 7 pm. The concert is the first live performance for orchestra in 18 months and comes with no COVID-19 restrictions in place.
Free from COVID restrictions, orchestra hosts live concert
With this years TMEA All-State Convention cancelled, a socially distanced picnic is planned Monday at 7 p.m. for the orchestra students that made All-State. “I’m excited that we all get to be together and see each other in person! It’s been so isolating this year, so when we get a chance to talk and hang out safely, I look forward to it,” junior Julia Johnson said. “Ms. Blackstock and Ms. Lien are extremely considerate and thoughtful to help put this together for everyone.”
Picnic replaces convention for All-State orchestra students
Rather than going to a school to perform, the UIL orchestra competition was held entirely virtually this year where all orchestras received sweepstakes.
Orchestra sweeps stage receiving sweepstakes at UIL

“We are super excited to host the clinic and concert here,” assistant director Tyler Elvidge said. “We had both a lot of band and orchestra students make it into one of these organizations, and it’s wonderful to represent ourselves at our own school.”

For sophomore Hannah Lee, the clinic was a new experience for her, as it was one of the first she was able to experience in real life after the pandemic.

“It feels nice to finally be rehearsing with so many talented musicians and performing such challenging music. It’s a lot different than band class because we only have about 9 hours to put a difficult program together and perform it in front of so many people.”

However, this event was not only for rehearsing music. For sophomore Nicole Johnson, it was a chance to see old classmates from different high schools, along with meeting new people from around the district.

“It was definitely fun seeing everyone after the pandemic, as we don’t really have time to catch up anymore in real life,” Johnson said via text. “Everyone was super nice and overall it was just a super fun experience to have.”