Every Tuesday and Thursday after school, George Gemelas, Camerata Orchestra violist and junior, rehearses with his orchestra, keeping in line with the orchestra’s rigorous schedule in preparation for ISSMA competitions coming up in late April.
According to Soo Han, orchestra director and co-department chairperson of the performing arts department, the regional round of the orchestra ISSMA competition will take place in late April, and the State finals will be the first week of May.
All four orchestras participate in the ISSMA competition, but only the two top orchestras, the Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, are eligible to go on to state finals because they are the only orchestras that play in full orchestra settings with winds and percussion, according to Han.
The Symphony Orchestra is performing three pieces for ISSMA this year. It is performing “African Dance” by Karl Nielsen, “Nocturne,” a movement from a string quartet by Alexander Borodin and the finale of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony, which, according to Han, is a showy and difficult piece to play.
According to Hyesoo Chae, Camerata Orchestra violinist and junior, the Symphony Orchestra began preparing its pieces in February.
“The pieces that we’re playing show off our strengths really well, and I think we’re doing a great job preparing for ISSMA,” Chae said.
Han said, “We work extremely hard. We have many after-school rehearsals, and in addition to after-school rehearsals, students are expected to put in tons of individual practice time because that’s the craft of music-making.”
Last year, the CHS orchestras did a fantastic job at ISSMA, according to Han. Both the Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonic Orchestra made it to the State finals. The Philharmonic Orchestra, the second highest orchestra, came out in sixth place, and the Symphony Orchestra, the top orchestra, won the state championship.
“We have shown through our concerts in the beginning of the year that we are continuing our strong tradition for orchestral playing, and we have good players,” Gemelas said.
However, Han said the orchestra members’ main goal was not to win competitions but to showcase their artistic talent and passion for music.
“One thing I really try to stress as a teacher, especially in the field of performing arts, is that I really try to not focus so much on the competition aspect of what we do here,” Han said. “At the end of the day, in the field of performing arts, a lot of what happens in the competition field is subjective. It’s a panel of judges that judge based on their own aesthetics. I want to say, ‘Yes, they will do well,’ because we will work really hard towards achieving a high level of artistic achievement and not necessarily try to come in a get first place. It will be fun to win first place, but our goal is to go out and perform the best we can and showcase all the work we’ve put in.”