By Emily Koncki
Staff Writer
The Mira Costa Orchestra held their winter concert on December 10th in the auditorium to showcase the pieces they have been working on for the past couple months.
According to Shubhayu Bhattacharyay, who is a member in the chamber orchestra, a small quartet of the highest level musicians, the orchestra students put in hours of preperation in order to get ready for the event. They played pieces that are apart of the New World Symphony by Dvořák.
“We have gone through two hours of practice every day of the school week for the past three months to prepare for the winter concert,” said senior Bhattacharyay said.
Not only do the students dedicate their time at school however. They are required to practice their parts of the pieces they are preparing at home as well, for more practice and a more confident sound.
“We’ve been working on our pieces everyday since the very beginning of the school year. Everyone also practices individually at home,” sophomore Katherine Elias said.
There isn’t much difference in the way that the orchestra prepares for their concerts. For this one, the only difference was the symphony chosen, The New World Symphony, had a big connection to Carnegie Hall, where the orchestra will be performing later this year.
“I usually don’t need to change much about how I prepare the orchestra for their concerts because we have a working formula with the key ingredient of hard work,” Peter Park, orchestra teacher said. “The students work for their own, great success.”
The chamber orchestra performed at a higher level than the rest of the orchestra and they played more advanced pieces like Tchaikovsky’s Sleigh Ride.
“Briana Zukotynski arranged a cute holiday medley that the chamber orchestra played at the concert,” Junior Alex Luo said.
This year, the Mira Costa orchestra performed Dvorák’s New World Symphony in their winter concert. The New World Symphony, one of the most popular of all symphonies, has been a request to play by the orchestra for a while.
“This year we’re actually playing Dvorák’s New World Symphony, which a lot of us have been pestering Mr. Park to let us play for the past couple of years,” Luo said.
“Regardless of how ready I actually am, I am confident because of the hard work our groups have put in and our great performance that reflected our hard work,” Bhattacharyay said.
The orchestra’s next concert will be Thursday February 4th in the auditorium. There is not a theme for the upcoming concert like there was for the Winter Concert.
“Each concert gives me a better idea what this years group is able to do and work towards which has a great affect on what literature I choose for each individual concert,” Park said. “It’s always a developmental process where I shift some of the game plan to achieve optimal opportunities.
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