2016 District 15/211 Orchestra Festival

A hush of anticipation fills the high school gymnasium. Three hundred students sit poised with their instruments and bows in position waiting for the signal from their conductor. With the first pull of the bow, the audience is transported to another world. This was the 2016 District 15/211 Orchestra Festival. And hearing their combined pieces is an awe-inspiring, unique experience.

For the past 31 years the Orchestra conductors from the District 15 junior high schools and Palatine & Fremd high schools have come together as one music family and given junior high orchestra students a chance to experience the high school orchestra program. This year, the event took place on Oct 15, 2016, at Fremd High School. Nearly 300 students from District 15 and District 211 participated in this program. These included all 8th grade students currently enrolled in the orchestra program at their schools as well as the orchestras at Fremd High School and Palatine High School.

Students started preparing in September almost immediately after school started. They rehearsed the various pieces in their home school, put in practice at home and finally, had a combined rehearsal with their peers and the high school orchestra students.

On the day of the event, junior high students from Plum Grove, Sundling, Winston Campus and Carl Sandburg spent the afternoon interacting with Fremd and Palatine High School orchestra students. Through team building exercises, Q & A sessions, and combined rehearsals, they got a peek into the school where they will soon be spending the next four years. It also gave the high school orchestra students a chance to talk about their school's orchestra program. There was a quiet sense of pride and achievement in their demeanor as they showcased their hard work and commitment as musicians and high school students. They had the opportunity to be leaders while mentoring the eighth-graders.

When the students finally sat down for a pizza dinner in the evening, these musicians - some almost 5 years apart in age - could be seen talking to each other as if they had known one another since kindergarten.

When asked about the event, Marla Caballero, director of the Fremd Orchestras said, "This was a wonderful celebration of music! What an extraordinary community of orchestral musicians we have in Palatine! What I love is that even though we are rivals in almost everything else, there is no crosstown rivalry here! We are better together! Orchestra is alive and well in District 211 and District 15!"

The concert began promptly at 7 p.m. A couple of high school orchestra students spoke about their own personal journey in orchestra. Many of these students have kept music for all 4 years of their high school curriculum, some giving up their lunch periods to fit their rigorous course work and orchestra in their schedules because orchestra is an important part of who they are.

One student who spoke about her experience as a high school music student said that there is no substitute to music. She said "It is more than an elective, it's an experience".

Another student said that he does not find the rigor and beauty of orchestra anywhere else and that he really loves making music.

The program opened with a piece played by the combined orchestras, Finale (The Dargason) from St. Paul Suite by Gustav Holst.

This was then followed by the various individual orchestras from Fremd and Palatine HS:

• Meadowlands (arr. David Bobrowitz) performed by Fremd and Palatine HS Concert Orchestras

• Creepy Classics (arr. Roy Phillppe) performed by Fremd and Palatine HS Philharmonic Orchestras

• Jig from St. Paul Suite by Gustav Holst performed by Fremd Chamber Strings and Palatine HS Symphony Orchestra

• Allegro, molto vivace from Rounds by David Diamond performed by Fremd HS Symphony Orchestra

The program concluded with two pieces, the first, Ghost Carnival by Erik Morales and second Clinch Mountain Backstep by Larry Moore. Both were performed by the combined orchestras of junior high and high school students.

For more information: More information about the Fremd and Palatine Orchestra programs can be found on their websites: https://sites.google.com/a/d211.org/fremd-orchestras and https://sites.google.com/a/d211.org/palatine-high-school-orchestra/