Orchestra students were taking the winter concert to a new level of excitement. Held on Dec. 13 in the auditorium, the concert is different from the years before.

The winter concert’s theme this year was a Christmas and Hanukkah theme. In addition to popular Christmas songs, there are also Hanukkah songs and songs representative to other cultures. There would be fast pacing songs, and also slow pacing songs that were there at the concert, ranging from high to low notes.

Senior and viola player Syndey Huynh explained, “It’s important for me because it’s a kinda of change from the regular classical music we usually play.” The class has been practicing up to the moment. She thought the music was pretty easy for her and that it would not be difficult for her.

Putting the concert together may be a challenging aspect. Senior Haven Tellez performed a solo with the piano at the concert and plays the violin and the piano. “The most difficult part is putting everything together,” Tellez expressed, “but the other pieces and solos aren’t too bad.” She also expressed that the winter concert is her favorite because the orchestra plays recognizable songs. 

The range of tempo and style from easy to difficult works make the concert feel more lively with the range of notes. “Carol of the Bells” had fast pacing notes, while there are songs that have a slower pace like 

Orchestra conductor Dr. Valorie Dopp explained that the “Carol of the Bells” by Linsey Stirling has fast notes. “The challenging piece for our chamber orchestra is by Linsey Stirling,” Dopp explained, “there are a lot of string changes and a lot of ornamentation. For the middle orchestra is the Hanukkah piece, and for the concert [orchestra] piece there will be a Celtic piece.”  

Dopp encouraged her students to practice and get better with their instruments. She also wanted students to play the pieces together so it sounds better. Dopp also picked songs that have a wide range of difficulty for the students to learn, so there would be success from all levels of the orchestra classes.

There were also newer songs in the queue that have not been  played before. “We are playing one in the concert orchestra called ‘Rise of the Olympians;,”Dopp said, “which is kind of a driving, exciting minor piece.” The concert is also playing ‘Sweed of Carols’ and ‘For Unto Us.’ The last song that was played at the concert was ‘Celtic Carol’ played by the chamber orchestra.

The variety of songs, the mash of cultures, and the range of genres of music inspired joy before the holiday break. Songs from all three levels of orchestra joined together to put on a show.