On Saturday, March 22, students from across the district gathered at Veterans Memorial High School for the 58th Annual CCISD Orchestra Festival. The festival featured three string orchestras who performed a diverse selection of pieces across different skill levels. Ray had 12 students perform from both varsity and junior varsity orchestras, with many earning high chair placements.
Students were led in rehearsal by directors from different CCISD schools across three rehearsals on Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon.
The beginner orchestra, consisting of first and second year students across CCISD middle schools, opened up the performance on Saturday evening. This was followed by the intermediate orchestra, consisting of second and third year students in CCISD middle schools, with Ray Orchestra director April Ibarra conducting one piece for the intermediate orchestra.
Chair placement was determined by auditions held for TMEA Region 14 Orchestra in October. Of the eight front row seats, five Ray students earned placement in these top seats.
Both freshmen, Zian Roggow was the concertmaster with Matteo Eroy as the assistant principal first violinist. Both juniors, Valeria Buendia and Carlos Uria were the principal and assistant principal cellists respectively.
Junior Unal McLauchlan and senior Sarika Yarrabolu were in the first violin section. Freshman Cami Egbert and sophomore Michael Hoang were in the second violin section. Freshman Annabelle Quaye was in the viola section. Senior Matthew Garza and freshman Cruz Lazo were in the double bass section. I personally served as the principal second violinist.
The advanced orchestra consisted of high school orchestra students across CCISD and opened their performance with “Remember Me” from Coco written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and arranged by James Kazik for string orchestra. “Remember Me”, a piece from Coco written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez; it was arranged by James Kazik for string orchestra. “Remember Me” features each section playing the melody at different times and brings out vibrant and rich tones of each instrument with their respective parts.
Students were conducted by Eduardo Mendoza, director of Grant and Tom Browne Middle School Orchestras.
The second piece was “Yesterday” by The Beatles arranged by Robert Longfield for string orchestra. Josh Salinas, director of Moody High School Orchestra conducted the piece.
(Texan Times Contributor)
Yesterday features solis with the second violin and viola sections as well as beautiful supporting chords from the low strings.
Eroy said “[his] dad really likes that song”, a sentiment which was shared by many in the audience that night.
CCISD Fine Arts Director Adan Molina, asked the audience “did that bring you back in time?” following the performance of that piece to which many parents agreed to with thunderous applause. This was exactly Salinas’ goal in rehearsals, telling students to play with emotion and bring out the melodies.
The advanced orchestra’s third and final piece closed out the performance with “Midnight Storm” by Erica Donahoe, conducted by Miller High School Orchestra director Roger Vasquez.
The piece begins with a fiery cello melody and supporting violin and viola rhythm. The same melody then transitions to the violin section with heavy accents and big dynamic contrast. The middle section slows down and features the upper strings with dialogue among the violin sections followed by a second violin and viola feature. The piece ends with a recapitulation of the initial melody with even more dynamic contrast and faster tempo.
The CCISD Orchestra Festival highlights the importance of music education and the opportunity for collaboration in much more than academics.
“Orchestra Festival was a great experience to work with people from other schools in CCISD
who have the same interests in music,” said Buendia. Orchestra Festival is one of the only events that brings the entire district together to support the arts, and everyone who has the privilege of being part of the experience is amazed by the musical talent our district posses.
Molina commended the students for their hard work and commitment to the orchestra and fine arts programs throughout Texas during the performance. He then thanked parents for their dedication in helping students to foster a positive environment in both orchestra and other classes by ensuring their children attend rehearsal and supporting their passion to perform. He also went on to thank all CCISD orchestra directors for their valuable efforts and education for the students.
On a personal note, my final orchestra festival ended great! I enjoyed our rehearsals and the music we performed. I was also much more outgoing and made great connections with others in the orchestra, further exemplifying Molina’s encouragement for students to continue growing great classroom culture and great orchestra programs in CCISD and across Texas.
