The OPHS orchestra ensembles started off the 2023 school year with their first concert in the high school auditorium on Tuesday, November 14th. Orchestra students from all grade levels gathered for this inaugural performance, playing medleys from feature films like Star Wars and Moana, pieces written by OPHS students, and other classical and fiddle songs. Featured among the Symphonic Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, and chamber orchestra were middle school string students and a special guest conductor.

To start off the evening, the Symphonic Orchestra was led by guest conductor Dr. Johannes Dietrich for select pieces. As a strings professor and a violin player himself, Dr. Dietrich also played along with the chamber orchestra. Orchestra teacher Mr. Safford gives his insight on Dr. Dietrich: “We very much enjoyed having Dr. Johannes Dietrich as a guest conductor for the orchestras…I believe that all of the students appreciated being able to work with a director from the collegiate level.” Mr. Safford also commends Dr. Dietrich for teaching masterclasses to the violinists and violists, helping to improve their musical abilities.

In addition to featuring Dr. Dietrich, the Concert Orchestra was joined by the middle school orchestra for two pieces: Voyager and Fiddle Fever. There were some differing opinions about playing with younger musicians; one violinist revealed, “We didn’t like playing with them because they weren’t as experienced.” Others claimed that with the minimal rehearsal time they had to play collaboratively with the middle schoolers, it turned out better than expected.

As for the music that was performed, there were familiar medleys from very celebrated movies, such as Moana and the Star Wars franchise. Additionally, a couple of the pieces performed by the Symphonic Orchestra were written by student members. Mr. Safford made a comment about which pieces he liked working on the most: “I very much enjoyed all of the selections for the concert, but my personal favorites were The Empire Strikes Back, Moana and the two pieces written by the student composers, which were Elemental Voyage by A.J. Beck and The Flight of the Dragon by Eva Sánchez.”