Orchestra blew the audience away with their first concert of the school year. The annual Masquerade concert, held on October 23rd, was a success. The Orchestra was made up of students from the Beginning, Concert, Sinfonia, Artist, and Philharmonic Orchestras. Students went up on stage in their costumes and played their spooky, Halloween inspired music.

The orchestra has prepared for seven weeks and had over fifteen rehearsals. “I am a perfectionist and my students are perfectionists as well. We will do everything we can to be perfect for you guys,” Larisa Marian, the Orchestra teacher, said.

The Masquerade concert is one of the only concerts Orchestra students don’t have to wear their uniforms and instead wear Halloween costumes.

“My very own students helped me pick out my costume for the concert, and I think they did a very great job,” Marian said, “For me, personally, it is interesting to see what students come up with as their costumes and it is also more exciting for the audience because you don’t know what to expect when we walk up on stage.”

The concert was especially made unique by the sections where students got to scream while playing their music, which made the songs more lively. “I liked screaming, because it made the concert more fun for me and I felt special having that part,” sophomore Maseray Luseni said.

Some of the songs played were “Cellos Ole” by Richard Meyer, “Haunted Carousel” by Soon Hee Newbold, and “Midnight Howl” by Katie O’Hara LaBrie.

A select few students were selected to perform solos during the event. “Students were selected for solos by auditions and playing tests,” said Marian.

“The audition process was really easy,” Natane Nyguyen said, “I performed my solo to the best of my ability and it was outstanding.”

The Orchestra will now be preparing for their annual winter concert, which will have the theme of “Light in the Dark.”

“The Winter concert will be very special. We will be dedicating it to finding hope through dark times and raising awareness to mental health,” said Marian, “I can’t give too much away so stayed tuned.”