Fossil Ridge High School’s Orchestra program held their last concert of the semester on Wednesday, December 13 at 7:00 PM. All three levels of orchestras performed: Sinfonietta, Concert, and Symphony. Additionally, the orchestras combined to play two pieces at the end of the night: the Concert and Symphony Orchestras played Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 by Paul O’Neill together, and all three orchestras played Somewhere in My Memory from Home Alone by John Williams. Mr. Silvestri, the Orchestra conductor, said, “what was particularly rewarding for me as an educator was seeing all the students on the stage together at the end of the concert working hard and sharing their love of music with their friends and family.”

Each orchestra played three or four pieces, including holiday themed songs and movie scores, such as Rey’s Themes from Star Wars Episode VI by John Williams. Emma Shelby, a band member, said, “My favorite part of the concert was probably the first song the Symphony orchestra played. They had three soloists stand up and play against the rest of the orchestra and it was really cool.” Amy Koo, Philip Cutler, and Esther Jeong soloed on the violin in Bugler’s Holiday by Leroy Anderson, and Koo and Kaitlyn Philavanh soloed on violin with Sasha Chappell on cello for Concerto Grosso No. 8 by Arcangelo Corelli.

Included at the concert was a student-run quartet featuring Chappell on cello, Hannah Mullins on viola, and Philavanh and Emily Drysdale on violin. They played Quartet No. 2 by Felix Mendelssohn, and practice outside of class during lunches, late start, and after school with a music professor from Colorado State University. Mr. Silvestri said, “I think all the students worked very hard and they demonstrated excellent progress over the semester. As I said at the concert, I truly consider these orchestra students one of the reasons I feel incredibly blessed to work in a place like this.”

Recognized at the concert were students selected for both the Western States Honor Orchestra and the All-State Orchestra. The Western States Honor Orchestra students were chosen on September 29 and performed November 2-4. Fossil’s representation included Jeong, Koo, and Jeannie Zhang on violin, Mullins on viola, and Chappell and Josh Lee on cello. Every student who participated in the Western States Honor Orchestra will also play in the All-State Orchestra.

The All-State Orchestra will practice and perform February 8-10 at CSU. Fossil’s next Orchestra concert will be on Wednesday, March 7 at 7:00 PM.