4800 minutes. That’s how long sophomore Maia Aurelio has spent outside of class practicing for the OHS orchestra. And that’s not accounting for class time or for time before school practicing with her quartet.
With concerts coming up for the OHS choir on October 30th, orchestra on November 4th, and band on November 6th, students throughout the music program are preparing for their nights to show what they’ve learned and how they’ve grown.
In preparation for the choir concert on October 30th, Dan Schwartz the choir teacher shares what goes into prepping 180 choir students for a concert. Schwartz said he likes to “motivate kids by playing the recordings of the music.” When asked to describe a choir concert to those who have never experienced one before he responded, “It’s a celebration of what we’ve learned and we get to share it with parents and community members.”
The following week, the orchestra performs on the same stage, filling the auditorium with the sounds of string instruments including the violin, cello, and viola. Aurelio plays the cello in chamber and symphony orchestra and has been playing for 8 years. “I like making eye contact with people; communicating with them and their instruments [during concerts],” Aurelio said. In college, Aurelio plans to minor in music. “Orchestra’s a good opportunity [for that].”
Sophomore Ayman Ehrlander plays the clarinet and has been preparing as a part of OHS’ wind ensemble for the band concert on November 6th. “[In class] we go over the pieces, Mr. Curley, [the band director], works on them with us,” he said. “When we’re doing the concert [after we’ve played] it’s nice to be able to show off our work and be sort of finished with the pieces we’ve played so many times.”
This December, the choir, band, and orchestra will be performing together for a Winter Festival. The performances are the 16th, 17th, and the 19th. All concerts are at 7:30 pm in the PAC.
