Orchestra Winter Concert
December 17, 2018
From Christmas socks to Christmas hats and even some amateur conducting Lafayette High School Orchestra’s (LHSO) Winter Concert was one for the books! The String and Concert Orchestras conducted by Mrs. Laura Holbrook combined to play Themes from Vivaldi’s “Gloria” by Antonio Vivaldi arranged by Harry A. Alshin, “Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo 12/24” as performed by the Trans Siberian Orchestra, and “A Christmas Suite” arranged by Elliot Del Borgo. The students in String and Concert worked hard to perfect these pieces. Many students stayed after school for a combined rehearsal to make sure everything ran smoothly! Emma Taylor a double bass player in the Concert Orchestra says ,”It was really fun combining the string and concert orchestras, I’m glad we got to play together”. Lafayette’s string orchestra is a beginning orchestra for students who may not have played a string instrument before. The Concert orchestra focuses mainly on broadening musicianship skills to those students who have become comfortable playing their instrument.
Lafayette’s Orchestra program frequently receives Distinguished ratings at K.M.E.A performance assessment and prides themselves on being one of the best orchestras in the state. Just last year Mr. Phil Kent, director of the Symphonic and Chamber orchestras took the Chamber orchestra to compete in a competition in which they placed in the top 5. Phil Kent is also in charge of the Seussical pit orchestra. Seussical will be performed from January 24th-26th if you are interested in seeing the show. Mrs. Holbrook, on top of conducting the first two orchestras, works with Giving Bach, an after-school gig group for all students. This group meets after school on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30 and frequently plays gigs on the weekend.
To conclude the Winter Concert, the LHSO’s Full Symphony Orchestra played “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane arranged by John Whitney. This song featured soloists Delaney Rayens, Casey Trowel, and Shannon James. The next selection was “The Polar Express” by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard arranged by Jerry Brubaker.
The final piece of the night was a special one! Mr. Scholl, one of the assistant principals here at Lafayette joined us onstage to conduct the final piece “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson. Special thanks to to the Lafayette Band students who performed. On flute: Shannon James, Grace Hughes, and Brooke Cole, on oboe: Sarah Perry and Fiona Farrer, on clarinet: Eleanor Scripps, Brandon Wang, and Catron Arnold, on bassoon:Flannery Rayens,and Niya Gates, Phenex Schwarz-Ward, on horn: Ana Keplinger, Jacqueline Mullins, Josiah McKinney, and Caleb Schneider, on trumpet: Jeffery Imes, Any Waters, and Julia Clements, on trombone: Casey Trowel, Eli Lane, and Colin Fergerson, on tuba: Jake Alford, and finally on percussion: Carson Caswell, Aaron Creech, Catherine Donson, Nicholas Harrison, Oscar Lin, and Colin Neal. Thank you to these band students for participating and supporting Lafayette orchestra. Nikki Cesiro a violinist in Chamber orchestra says “It was an amazing concert. All of the orchestras worked so hard and it paid off. We can also thank the band for participating in the concert this year for a full orchestra. It made some parents come to tears. We can 100% say that this concert was successful.”
The night was filled with holiday spirit and good music. It was a night to remember and all who attended enjoyed it. The orchestras are already hard at work preparing for the next concert and look forward to performing again in the spring.
