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by Joel Pietrantozzi
On March 1, the Twinsburg High School Orchestra performed for the Ohio Music Education Association's Large Ensemble Contest at Lakewood High School, and received a "superior" rating.
In this contest, four state-certified judges evaluated a group based on its performance of three pieces. The orchestra played Sibelius' "Andante Festivo," Del Borgo's "Scene de la Mer," and Mosier's "The Dance of Iscariot."
Many orchestras from across the state participated in this two-day event. The THS Orchestra was awarded unanimous "superior" ratings from all judges, which is the highest honor that can be awarded at the state level to a public school performing group.
Each judge is an accomplished music teacher. The orchestra worked hard to prepare for this important event, and the directors were confident that they would impress the judges.
"Going into it, I felt confident that we would get a 'superior'," orchestra director Damon Conn said. "I wasn't sure that we would get straight 'superior' ratings, but we definitely wanted to convince every judge that we are a superior orchestra."
The THS Orchestra is conducted by Conn and Thomas Resnick. Students have also formed a separate "rock orchestra" comprised of guitars, electric violins and drums. Unlike the symphony orchestra, this group will perform more rock-style pieces such as "Kashmir" and "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin.
The group has been busy preparing for many upcoming performances, which included a week-long tour of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., where the orchestra performed for people from all over the world. The orchestra performed Disney classics such as "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Beauty and the Beast" in the Magic Kingdom park as a part of the Disney Performing Arts program. The trip allowed students to perform for a multi-cultural audience in a different venue.
The orchestra will perform at the THS Fine Arts Festival on April 30 and the spring orchestra concert is May 15 at 7 p.m. in the THS auditorium.