A wonderful night was shared with family and friends for Seminole High School’s (SHS) orchestra’s winter holiday performance. This event was on December 6th, 2023, from 7 p.m to 8 p.m in the KWC auditorium. Tickets were sold for $5 on GoFan, and little snacks were sold in the lobby for $1 – $5.
An orchestra is a group of musicians combining string, woodwind, brass, and percussion sections. For SHS, these instruments include violins, bass, cello, piano, and viola. For this performance, some guest rhythm was added including wood blocks, sleigh bells, timpani, who, electric bass, and piccolo. There are multiple levels of the SHS’s orchestra divided by skill, including camerata, beginning players, then concert, containing ninth graders, then philharmonic and symphonic being the low and high middle levels, and chamber being the highest level.
There were a total of sixteen songs performed and spread out among the different levels of orchestra. As people walked into the auditorium, the Jazz Messengers, a group of three, played White Christmas. Next was Camerata Orchestra playing the song Icicles, conducted by student Lorenzo Suluh. Then was the Holiday Quintet, consisting of five symphonic members, that performed Bring a Torch, Jeannette Isabella. Concert orchestra performed after with the songs A Holiday Waltz and Jingle Bell Rock. Next The Toy Makers performed The Sleigh Ride. The Philharmonic orchestra played Snowy Woods and Trepak from the Nutcracker Suite. The group All the Other Reindeer played Greensleeves. Then the symphonic orchestra put on The Little Drummer Boy and Hanukkah Habanera. The Festive Five then played Pat – a – pan. Lastly, the chamber orchestra performed Sleigh Ride, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, A Yuletide Reel, and Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah. Before the last song, a game was played to collect donations for the SHS orchestra. It was called Joyful Givings, and volunteers from the orchestra ran around collecting money from the audience and putting it in a hat. Theater also has a similar way of collecting donations at shows called a minute to win it.
Sophomore, Kayla Ramsey, shares how the concert went for her: “I have been apart of orchestra since 6th grade and now in SHS, I am apart of symphonic and chamber orchestra. I play viola for chamber and violin for symphonic. We have been preparing for the concert since October 30th and it was rough practicing. I practiced in class and at home individually. I think the concert went pretty well and that all the groups put in the work and were successful. My favorite performance I played was Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. I also volunteered for Joyful Givings since I felt like it would be fun and I could help out.”
The auditorium was decorated with holiday-related decorations like a christmas tree, painting of snowmen and a menorah, pine garlands lining the stage, and members of the orchestra wearing festive hats like santa hats and reindeer antlers. “When they played the songs in the decorated venue, the atmosphere had me expecting snow to start falling.” says Health Academy sophomore Ariella Parson-Weeks who went to watch the concert. “I went to support my friends who were performing. I think the concert was amazing! The ending song where the orchestra and chorus played Hallelujah was my favorite. The harmony was good and I could feel the connection when the chorus sang and the orchestra played.”
The concert was a major success and everyone performed great! I loved seeing my friends and peers perform for something they have spent time preparing for. I hope the orchestra’s future concerts go just as well if not better than this performance. Come support them in their next performance in the springtime!