On January 11, four musicians, Zach Park ’28, Harry Liu ’27, Jaiden Lee ’26, and Wesley Zhu ’25 performed in the annual Northeastern District Senior Music Festival. Harry (cello), Jaiden (cello), and Wesley (violin) all performed in the orchestra, while Zach sang along with the Senior District Chorus. The musicians participated in five-hour rehearsals on the weekdays in preparation for the concert at Lexington High School, with conductor Emily Schaad leading the orchestra and conductor Michele Adams leading the chorus. This year, the orchestra selected a repertoire consisting of Brahms and Coleridge-Taylor, while the chorus featured pieces including Mozart and contemporary composer Reena Esmail.
Overall, the concert was a resounding success, with conductor Emily Schadd noting, “The level of the ensemble as a whole was extremely high. I am very grateful that every single musician put in everything they had during the concert and did not falter in energy throughout the past week of long and tedious rehearsals. I think a lot of the musicians appreciated that we incorporated a mix of classical and contemporary music, and the audience enjoyed that as well. Ultimately, I was incredibly happy with the way we played and how the performance turned out in the end!” Harry Liu ’27 added, “This was my second time playing with the Senior District orchestra and it was actually a pretty different experience than last year, but not necessarily in a bad way. The change in conductor as well as the repertoire from last year prevented the experience from being too repetitive and boring; I think our pieces really matched the orchestra as a whole and we played really well.”
As all four musicians received an All-State recommendation after their second round of auditions, The Panel wishes them luck on the next level of the musical process, as well as all of their other musical endeavors in the future!