The Fall 2023 Orchestra Concert is Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium and will feature four different orchestras performing 2-3 pieces.
“We have seen phenomenal growth this year, we are so excited to showcase that tonight,” Assistant Orchestra Director Madison Waggerman said. “Lots of the ensembles have had wonderful dynamic contrast and some really awesome musical moments, and for the most part, we get to stay together, so me and Ms. B. are really excited for the concert.”
Waggerman has been slowly running through the show’s pieces in preparation for the fall concert.
“So, we do warmups at the beginning of the year, and as the concert gets closer, we do a little less of that, and [we] rehearse all the pieces and slow it down, working out the more troubling spots, and [we] get things up to tempo as soon as we can and run it,” Waggerman said.
According to Orchestra Vice President, senior Kelly Shi, this repetition has helped the ensemble perfect the show.
“Repetition to memorize all the pieces really helps us embed the music to help us play it better,” Shi said.
Although orchestra directors play a big role in the show, orchestra students also have a part to play in the concert’s success.
“The Orchestra Officer teams have been working very hard to set up the outside appearance of the concert,” Shi said. “The Logistics crew always contributes to the setup before the concerts. I’m a senior vice president, so the officers really help a lot to prepare for the concert. All orchestra members who aren’t officers can also help out setting up.”
With all the practice that has been done, Waggerman is excited for the show and hopes her excitement will give students confidence.
“I feel good, so I’m hoping that will give the ensembles confidence. I’m just really excited for the students to feel good about their performance and have the community hear them.
Freshman Daniel Cheng looks forward to seeing what the other orchestras have prepared.
“The Fall Orchestra Concert is super exciting,” Cheng said. “We’ve been working on it since school started, and it’s gonna be really cool to see what all the orchestras came up with.”
Some ensembles have fallen behind in previous years due to COVID-19, but this gap is no longer prevalent, according to Waggerman.
“At this point, the students that have learned on [virtual learning] COVID, I’m pretty sure they’re our freshmen, so all the COVID stuff that’s happened, they are here on our campus, and now it doesn’t even seem like there’s been a big gap in our learning, so all the ensembles are ready to showcase what they can do.”
Having experienced digital concerts during quarantine, Shi is excited to end high school with an in-person concert.
“The concerts were digital,” Shi said. “I’m glad for my senior year that I get to live up to the actual orchestra concert before I graduated. In-person concerts that you perform are so much more exciting.”
Despite being an annual concert, there have been some changes that the orchestra is looking forward to.
“We did get new orchestra uniforms this year, so we’re excited to see what those new dresses will look like,” Waggerman said. “We did change our pant uniforms last year, so they should look sharp, and we did mix up the order for the program for this concert, which is actually pretty cool, so we’re excited for the flow of the concert and to see all the ensembles [be] strong in their performance.”
