School orchestras gather in Logandale

By ISAAC LINFORD

The Progress

Three high school orchestra programs gathered at the Old Logandale School last week to play for, and with, each other.

The three groups, including Moapa Valley High School, Basic Academy from Henderson, and Virgin Valley High School; got together on Tuesday, Feb. 13 to showcase pieces that they have learned this year.

The event was designed to bring together the three different orchestra groups and allow them to form new connections and prepare for the coming performances at each orchestra’s school and at the CCSD festival event.

MVHS orchestra director Sean Tyler had his students play music being prepared for the festival on March 1. At the festival, the students will perform pieces for a panel of judges to receive a score based on a variety of criteria.

The event was meant to prepare the groups for upcoming performances as well as create inroads between students from different communities.
“We organized this event because we wanted to form connections through music with other communities,” said Basic Academy orchestra teacher Elise Eden. “I feel like we achieved our goal and the students did very well.”

Eden’s guitar students went to another city to perform last year. She mentions that the experience was good for them and she wanted to have her orchestra do the same.

The Virgin Valley High School orchestra had a total of students: two freshmen, a junior, and a senior. The group played chamber orchestra music because each instrument only had one part. Despite their small numbers, the students played with confidence and the audience applauded.

After playing individually the orchestras all got together. Tyler had the students switch seats around until they were all sitting next to someone from a different school. This allowed the musicians to meet new people from new schools. It also helped grow their musical ability to sight read, as the students from Basic Academy and VVHS had never played the piece before. After only 2 minutes of practice, the students played the music together.

After the activities, the three orchestras walked to Pirate’s Landing for some pizza and games. This was yet another opportunity to connect with new faces and form new friendships. After pizza, the students packed up their instruments on their buses and left for home.

“This was a great opportunity!” said MVHS violinist Gracie Melvin. “We listened to and learned new music. We also got to meet new people and make new friends. It turned out to be a great learning experience and a lot of fun!”