Aragon’s orchestras and choirs finished this school year with two concerts on April 29 and May 4 respectively. The first featured Aragon’s two orchestral ensembles and the second featured Aragon’s three choirs and three acapella groups. They showcased the musical progress and achievements of students throughout the school year. Students who demonstrated outstanding achievement received awards.
The orchestra concert opened with a small ensemble, featuring 14 players and two soloists from Aragon’s String Orchestra, before the rest of the orchestra joined them and performed four pieces together.
“I think the concert went pretty well,” said sophomore Jake Sakamoto. “It was really cool to see all our practicing and hard work go into this concert, and it was really fun to play for the audience.“
Chamber Orchestra’s set resembled String Orchestra’s set, with a soloist being featured before the orchestra performed three pieces. After that, the orchestra’s seniors thanked Orchestra and Choir Director John Chen. During the final piece, “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, the seniors left and joined the audience. The performance was dedicated to the graduating musicians to honor their musical careers.
“The orchestra had to relearn some elements of playing together,” said senior Anthony Surkov. “This is the first time in around two years that we’ve had proper concerts and other performances such as the [California Music Educator’s Association] festival. Ironically, normalcy stands out to me because of how long we’ve had our musical pursuits and passions suspended by pandemic measures.”
Senior Anthony Rodriguez-Miranda shared the sentiment.
“I’m most proud of the fact that we were all able to snap back to [playing] every day,” Rodriguez-Miranda said. “Last year was online … [and] we all got used to recording ourselves playing. I honestly thought [playing in person] was going to be a bigger problem going into this year, but we were able to snap back quickly.”
“Even though many students are experiencing the spring concert for the first time, I think it went well”
After each orchestra finished its set, awards were distributed. In String Orchestra, sophomore Jake Sakamoto and freshman Luuk Nicolas won the Most Improved Award, freshman Hannah Li won the Most Valuable Player award and sophomore Lawrence Wang won the Director’s Award. For Chamber Orchestra, Rodriguez-Miranda won the Most Improved Award, sophomore Adele Hsu won the Most Valuable Player Award, senior Caitlin Kaliski won the Director’s Award, senior Elson Wong won the Frederic Chopin Piano Award and Surkov won the National Orchestra Award.
“I felt really excited when I received [the Most Improved] Award,” Nicolas said. “I’m very glad that my classmates nominated me for it. I feel proud that I’ve stuck with my bass for so long and that I’ve gotten [better].”
At the end of the concert, Chen announced that Aragon’s Chamber Choir will be performing at the 81st Pearl Harbor Anniversary next year in Hawaii.
“That was really big news,” said junior Gemma Gibeault. “I’m really excited. I’m a little nervous because it’s … during dead week next year, so it’s going be a little hard to manage finals and everything else. But I’m overall really excited.”
Choir members also received awards. For Men’s Choir, freshman Thomas Nie won the Most Improved Award, junior Ryan Xu won the Most Valuable Musician Award and junior Andre Wang won the Outstanding Achievement Award. In Women’s Choir, freshman Katie Yue won the Most Improved Award, junior Ashlyn Tsui won the Most Valuable Musician Award and senior Ruby Vogel won the Outstanding Achievement Award. In Chamber Choir, freshman Ethan Chu won the Most Improved Award, Wang won the Most Valuable Musician Award and senior Elysa Hernandez won the Outstanding Achievement Award. Senior Samantha Mefford won the National Choral Award and Kaliski won the the Leonard Bernstein Musicianship Award.
“[Winning an award] makes me feel really grateful and heartwarmed that people think I’m a good role model for them,” Xu said. “I hope to continue being a good role model in the future, both in terms of music and in terms of being a friend.”
For all musicians, this year has been challenging as they had to grapple with normal class and concerts while coming back from an online year. However, despite these challenges, this year has been a year of growth and accomplishment for many.
“I really have made such genuine friends over my first year at Aragon,” Gibeault said. “I was a little nervous at first when I came here, but after meeting everybody, I’m just so overwhelmed with positive messages about everyone.”
The concerts were a culmination of the hard work students put in as well as a celebration of seniors’ high school music careers.
“I thought [everything] went really smoothly,” Chen said. “I’m glad to see that even though many students are experiencing the spring concert for the first time, I think it went well. It was especially sentimental for the seniors because [in] the last few years, everyone’s been in a little bit of a limbo trying to imagine getting back to a new normal again. So it’s great to see that [finally] happen.”
