The Buffalo High School Orchestra had their spring orchestra concert yesterday, May 12th. Four ensembles performed during the concert including freshman orchestra, varsity orchestra, concert orchestra, and symphony orchestra. Freshman orchestra conducted by Rachael Vannet opened the concert with The Star Spangled, followed by the song Fiddle Fest by James E. Clemens, a piece inspired by New English fiddle music. The freshmen group’s final piece was Variation on a Well Known Sea Chantey by Richard Stephen, a song that consists of the main theme of What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor adapted into eleven variations, each with a different style designed to feature different sections of the orchestra.
The next ensemble to perform was Varsity Orchestra conducted by Rachael Vannet with the piece Butterfly and Flowers by Elena Roussanova, a waltz meant to visualize the Chinese countryside. Their next piece was the second movement Symphony No. 5 by Ludwig Van Beethoven, the second section of Beethoven’s famous fifth symphony. The varsity orchestra’s last piece was Scenes from the Emerald Isle, a song that is made up of three sections that displayed different styles of Irish music.
The Concert and Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mike Knutson performed next, beginning with Serenade in E Minor by Edward Elgar, who composed much of this piece as a child and later reworked into this song. The next piece was Irish Tune from County Derry by Percy Grainger, which is a variation of the folk tune Danny Boy rewritten for piano, cappella voices, orchestra, and wind band. The final piece by Concert Orchestra before they were joined by Symphony Orchestra was Perseus by Soon Hee Newbold, and is inspired by the character Perseus, the son of Zeus, from greek mythology. The final piece of the concert, performed by Symphony Orchestra, was An American in Paris Suite by George Gershwin,which is meant to create a French atmosphere and help the audience visualize an American visitor visiting the streets of Paris for the first time.
