Logan Bernklau ‘24 (left) and Thomas Butters ‘24 (right) practice for performance on Jan 30 in the Vaughn building.

The Winter Symphony Orchestra concert is an Honors concert that was performed on Feb. 5-6 in the SC PAC. The concert featured small chamber ensembles from the Chamber and Sinfonietta Orchestra.  

“We also [featured] students who were chosen as runner ups in our recent concerto competition performance,” Orchestra director Jan Matthews said. “Students are divided into string quartets and rehearsals are student-led and we do weekly coaching.” 

This concert was more unique than a standard orchestra concert because it was a chamber music concert, meaning there are fewer people performing each song, Matthews said. The students that were part of the concert broke up into groups of four or five, and each group played their own piece, as opposed to most concerts where there are up to 100 people playing each song. Only one small group was in each part of the concert. Students had to be independent and focused to make sure their part contributed to the piece as a whole

“Playing in small ensembles is one of the most thrilling and rewarding experiences we can have as musicians,” he said.

Gabrielle Sanchez ‘24 plays the viola and is in the Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony Orchestra played on Feb. 4 and Sinfonietta played on Feb. 5. 

“I enjoy[ed] this concert because we [got] to play in much smaller groups,” Sanchez said. “My favorite piece I [played was] a song called ‘Arie’ by Bach.” 

Students also had the opportunity to get to know each other well in the small rehearsal setting, Matthews said. They made close connections to one another, even people who play different instruments. 

“This is probably my favorite concert of the year,” Kai Werlinksy ‘24 said. “My favorite piece that I [played was] the first movement of the Prokofiev Quartet no. 1.”

Student-led rehearsals are a huge responsibility, but when the students are motivated it can be even more productive than if there was a teacher present, Werlinsky said. 

“It’s great to hear the solos performed by the concerto competition students,” Matthews said. “They have refined their pieces through consistent practice over a long time, and play at a really high level.” 

Each music group had a say in what pieces they played, Matthews said. This led to a wide range of music, such as opera,  periods from Baroque through to 20th century, and even fiddle music.  

“With the solos, we’ll hear two students performing on the marimba, [as well as an English Horn player], a violinist, and a violist,” Matthews said. 

The next symphony concert is on April 18 and will feature Piper Murray ‘24, who will perform the Stamitz clarinet concerto with the symphony orchestra.