(Pictured L to R): Genevieve Neenan, Nora Warner, Hunter Sasala, Brayden Hoffmann
By: Nora Warner
Photo: Mr. Warner
From March 4 through March 6, four students represented Wallenpaupack at the PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association) Northeast Region Orchestra festival hosted by Carbondale Area High School. To qualify for the event, students first auditioned and then attended the district orchestra festival in February. At the district festival, students then auditioned again for spots in the region festival. Due to the limited instrumentation of orchestras, this honor is reserved for only the top few students. The Northeast Region orchestra combines students from PMEA districts 9 and 10 to perform a concert and audition for the All-State orchestra ensemble.
On Wednesday, students arrived at the school and completed auditions. Students were judged on excerpts from their concert program. Wallenpaupack student Brayden Hoffmann received first place and served as the principal trumpet player.
On Thursday and Friday, the group rehearsed for their concert on Friday night. Their conductor was Sarah Culp-Abrams, a conducting doctoral student and graduate professor at the John Hopkins University Peabody Conservatory. Throughout the rehearsals, the students had the opportunity to explore a variety of orchestral works and learn more about performing in an orchestra setting. On Friday evening, the group performed their concert, a program inspired by musical theater pit orchestras, to a very full audience. The group performed:
The Iliad (The Fall of Troy) by Soon Hee Newbold
Bal Masque by Amy Beach
Scherzo from Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony
Slavonic Dances #2 and #8 by Dvorak
An American in Paris Suite by George Gershwin arr. Whitney
Highlights from Wicked by Stephen Schwartz arr. Ricketts
Congratulations to the students who participated in the Region Orchestra and represented Wallenpaupack. Next WAHS students will attend Region Band from March 11-13.
