With the Winter Extravaganza set to debut Wednesday, orchestra is preparing multiple pieces which will be showcased at the event. 

“People can expect to see performances from all six orchestras,” orchestra director Brandon Lucio said. “We combine with students from band to put together three full orchestras. For many of our students, it is the first time they are involved in playing pieces from the full orchestra repertoire. You can expect to hear enjoyable tunes from classic holiday songs all evening!”

This is one of the biggest events of the year for all of the fine arts students and teachers. 

“We are extremely busy and hard at work preparing for Winter Extravaganza,” Lucio said. “We are preparing as normal in class plus we have had additional rehearsals outside of the school day to rehearse with band. All directors from the Fine Arts Department are also preparing things like the program, seating charts, logistics, decorating, and much, much more! It takes all of us to put on a show like this!” 

For junior Ophelia Grigoryan, Bells of Christmas has the best lasting impression as it includes all sorts of exciting moments. 

“The piece that I am most excited to play is Bells of Christmas because I feel like that challenges me rhymically and note wise in a way that the other pieces don’t,” Grigoryan said. “Additionally, I love how all the sections come together as a powerful force and makes the energy in the orchestra room a lot more intense.” 

Freshman Isabelle Njoku’s love for the nutcracker has excited her the most to play. 

“I’m most excited to play dance of the sugar plum fairy,” Njoku said. “I’ve always loved the nutcracker and that song is always the most memorable for me, and to get to play it feels really special. There are also many dynamics in it which shapes the music really well.”

Band and orchestra playing together is quite common for schools but including choir as well is uncommon and for senior Madeline Sanders, she is thrilled to see how it turns out. 

“I am most excited to play Infinitum, because we combine orchestra, band, and choir,” Sanders said. “We play with band for full orchestra, but don’t commonly play with choir, so this is an exciting opportunity.”

The Winter Extravaganza is not just for orchestra, but for all the fine arts. Students in all the fine arts will participate and showcase what they have been working on. 

“I think it’s important for all the fine arts students to collaborate because it substantially shows how all departments are able to cohesively work together to form a big production,” senior Sonja Mo said. “It’s a nice showcase of collaboration, allowing the audience to see a masterpiece of many different fine arts elements. I also think it’s important for fine art students to learn about other departments and enjoy their experience of playing together. This opportunity isn’t available to everyone, so I feel like a lot of students will really enjoy participating in this production.” 

Orchestra is not only preparing pieces per class, but new this year is the bass choir. 

“The bass choir is where all the basses from all orchestras come together and play Christmas songs!” Njoku said. “This will definitely leave a lasting impression because basses don’t get enough recognition, and also because we have A LOT of basses this year who can make it happen.”