This semester, North’s Chamber and Philharmonic Orchestra students had to prepare an additional performance for a unique audience: the North-bound fifth graders from elementary schools in D303. The performance occurred this past Friday, Feb. 20 and contained pieces like “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” and music from the soundtrack of “La La Land”.
This event first took place between North students and district elementary school students last year, making this year’s performance just the second of its kind. It started after the elementary schools contacted North about seeing a performance by D303 students instead of going to see the Elgin Symphony Orchestra.
“It’s the second time we’ve done this,” said Andrew Masters, North’s orchestra director, “and the elementary teachers reached out to us [asking for] a performance. They used to go to the Elgin Symphony to watch concerts there, [but now] all the fifth grade students, not just the music students, came over and we gave a performance for them.”
This event was enjoyed by North’s orchestra performers, as the performance also served as a reunion with former teachers they may have had. In addition, students in North’s orchestras were excited for the performance and looked forward to the relaxed atmosphere full of music.
“A lot of kids get kind of nervous about having a concert and performing as well as they can,” said Raine Lencioni, a junior who performed in the event. “But because it was for the fifth graders, we were like, ‘Oh, this is fun. The [fifth graders] are just gonna love it.’”
As expected, the fifth graders who attended the performance also enjoyed the event, in part thanks to the music performed including fun and popular pieces.
“[The elementary kids] were pretty hyped,” said Masters. “The kids in the audience, they were bouncing in their seats, they were really dancing and they did sing along. We kept it fun [and] I think everyone had a great experience.”
However, while simply enjoying the music and having fun was a major goal of the performance, the orchestras also hoped to positively impact the fifth graders in attendance. By discussing various pieces performed with the fifth graders, musical lessons relevant to other parts of life were explored.
“We performed some really interesting music, something that everybody can consume,” said Masters. “To give an example, we played a piece called ‘O Fortuna’, … and that piece describes the [misfortune] that we all experience and the unfairness of life. Sometimes we understand things through the lens of music at a better level than we do with just words, … and we talked about that with the fifth graders.”
North’s orchestras also hoped to inspire the fifth graders to either start playing a musical instrument or to continue their musical journey, not just this year but in the future by continuing this type of event.
“I hope that [the fifth graders] want to be in orchestra now, if they’re not already,” said Lencioni, “[and] I’m hoping they took away a little bit of the emotion that comes from the music that we played, as well as our technique and how much fun we had. It was a great idea, and I think we should do it again.”
