For the first time, the West High Orchestras had the honor of sending students to participate in the Metropolitan Orchestra Festival at the Paramount Theatre. Last Thursday, West students had a full-day rehearsal at Linn-Mar High School with students from various other schools.
On Feb. 3, West students traveled to the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids for a final rehearsal and the concert. There were multiple performances by the 6th Grade Orchestra, 7th Grade Orchestra, the 8th Grade Orchestra, the High School Philharmonic Orchestra and the High School Symphony Orchestra. The High School Philharmonic Orchestra played “Declarations” by Jeffrey Bishop, “Lacrimosa from Requiem Mass” by W.A. Mozart, “Danse Macabre” by Camille Saint-Saens and “Nabucco Overture” by Giuseppe Verdi and were directed by Joe Mnayer.
The High School Symphony Orchestra was directed by Phil Peters and played “English Folk Song Suite, I. Seventeen Come Sunday” by Ralph Vaughan Williams and selections from “Carmen Suites Nos. 1 and 2” by George Bizet. The Symphony Orchestra was accompanied by guest band members as well. The performance was featured on KCRG on the local 9.3 channel. To watch a recording of it, the KCRG 9.2 channel will be airing it again on Thursday, March 7th and Tuesday, April 2nd at 8 pm. Below is the list of students who participated in the Metropolitan Orchestra Festival.
Philharmonic Orchestra
Abby Lee ’27 – Violin II
Sharon Liao ’27 – Violin II
Jensen Lin ’27 – Violin II
Gracie Liu ’27 – Violin I
Nora Orhon ’27 – Violin I
Momo Shinozaki ’27 – Violin I
Sylvia Broffit ’26 – Viola
Mathew Lu ’27 – Viola
Aiden Zhang ’27 – Cello
Symphony Orchestra
Aidan Choi ’25 – Violin II
Lydia Evans ’26 – Violin II
Thara Rajagopal ’26 – Violin II
Mrudani Ramkumar ’25 – Violin II
Sabrina Du ’25 – Violin I
Tina Hong ’25 – Violin I
Jessie Li ’25 – Violin I
Shanza Sami ’26 – Violin I
Flora Zhu ’25 – Violin I
Holden Rebich ’25 – Viola
Max Schebel ’26 – Viola
Tessera Rippentrop ’24 – Cello
Taelim Yoon ’26 – Cello
Solomon Schaffer ’26 – Bass
Mac Wilson ’25 – Bass
