Soo Han, the Co-Department Chairman and Director of Orchestras, said he is looking forward to orchestra’s first concert. The concert is on Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dale E. Graham auditorium. The tickets are $3 for senior citizens and students, and $5 for adults. Han said the first time all the orchestras play together is always special.

Meanwhile, he said, the orchestras will maintain their rigorous practice schedule. With approximately 300 students enrolled in orchestra, there are a variety of different orchestra classes available. Freshmen are segregated into their own orchestra class, but besides that, he said, there are varying levels of orchestra, including both intermediate and advanced orchestra classes.

As for more long-term opportunities for the orchestra this year, Han said, “One of the really cool things on the radar for this semester is being approached by IMG Artists and there is a project where we might play soundtracks to a Hollywood movie.” He said that they have been asked to be a pilot project for the Wizard of Oz. As to whether it would be possible to do this, he said the questions are technology related, not music related. Either way, Han said that he and the orchestra members are very honored to have the opportunity.

For the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) Concert Orchestra competition at the end of the year, he said he thinks that the different sections of the orchestra have the potential to be ISSMA champions. Last year, the Symphony Orchestra won the championship. He said that the competition is always something they look forward to but do not worry about until the end of the year.

Sophomore violinist Priyadharshini “Dharshini” Manikandan said she looked forward to this event. She said, “I love orchestra, it’s so much fun. (I’m) just looking forward to the year and looking forward to (the) ISSMA (competition) where you play in front of judges and get scored.”