All-School Instrumental Concert Repertoire Includes Coldplay, Lord of Rings and a Composition by Grade 7 Musician
Lower, middle and upper school instrumentalists displayed their talents for an evening audience at the Spring Concert, held Apr. 12 at the Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose. Students performed in various groups, performing orchestral music from a wide selection of styles and time periods.
Toni Woodruff conducted the first performers of the evening, the Lower School String Ensemble, who played a medley of American songs arranged by Bob Phillips, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Finale from “Serenade for Strings.” Louis Hoffman then conducted the Lower School Orchestra, who performed Beethoven’s famous “Ode to Joy” and “Aragonaise” by Georges Bizet.
The Middle School Orchestra then introduced themselves to the show by teaming up with the Lower School Orchestra for a performance of a segment of Mozart’s Symphony No. 25. Harker Winds, the grade 6 wind ensemble, then performed “You Are My Sunshine” with guest conductor Paul Woodruff, who also led the grade 6 group Harker Strings in their renditions of “Irish Tune From County Derry” by Percy Grainger and a string arrangement of the popular Coldplay song “Clocks.” Woodruff stepped in that evening for conductor Dave Hart, who was on paternity leave.
Woodruff remained onstage to conduct the Grade 6 Orchestra’s performances of a medley of tunes from the “Harry Potter” film series and Johann Strauss’ “Radetzky March,” and also conducted the Grade 7 and 8 Orchestra, who played four pieces, including “Andham,” composed by Meghana Karinthi, grade 7, and the “Symphonic Suite” from the “Lord of the Rings” films.
After a brief intermission, the Upper School Orchestra, directed by Chris Florio, took the stage to perform the final series of songs for the night, which included “The Moldau” from Bedrich Smetana’s “Ma Vlast,” Max Bruch’s “Romanze for Viola and Orchestra,” featuring Nayeon Kim, grade 12, and the final piece of the night, “Huapango” by Jose Pablo Moncayo.
Tags: Performing Arts