Orchestra Fall Concert Preview

by Lauren McGuire

This Friday, Cedarville’s Orchestra will put on their fall concert in the Dixon Ministry Chapel at 7 p.m. This production will be slightly different from past performances as there will be no soloist performance; instead, the entire production will be focused on the group as a whole.

The orchestra will play three total pieces throughout the night. They were chosen from a total of sixteen pieces that were originally written for piano but have been adapted so that an orchestra can play them. These pieces are popular tunes that would be recognizable to those who do not frequently listen to classical music. Each of the three pieces come  from a different style of classical music which allows the orchestra to display their broad skill of talent.

“I’m looking forward to Beethoven in particular just because I really enjoy his music. He has a lot of contrast between movements in this particular symphony,” Chloe Sodonis, a sophomore french horn player, said. “One of these is called ‘The Storm.’ It’s fun because it’s kind of quiet and mysterious and then there are a lot of big brass moments.”

Lydia Sarver, a junior violin player, gained an appreciation for playing the violin at ten years old which has led to her pursuit of a violin performance degree.

“I’m excited about all of the pieces, but Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony is really a classic work of art, and I’ve never performed it before, so that’s exciting,” Sarver said. “It’s got so much contrast in dynamics and in rhythm and in style. It’s also got these beautiful lyrical themes throughout and each movement is depicting a different element of nature.”

This is one of the first years that SGA has featured these types of classical music events in the emails sent out to the student body. However, Sodonis said that it can be discouraging when not many students attend the concerts.

“People make the claim that all orchestra music sounds the same, but it’s not true, and people don’t take the time to really appreciate it,” Sodonis said.

A lot of time has been put into preparing for the Oct. 9 production, since the performance isn’t just about playing the musical notes correctly.

“I don’t think actually playing the notes is the hardest part, but probably just listening to each other and honing in as an ensemble and really just giving our all to the performance is probably the most challenging part,” Sarver said.

Working together and their ability to stay on their toes when tempos change will allow them to put on a great concert for the public.

The Fall Orchestra Concert will take place in the Dixon Ministry Chapel at 7 p.m. on October 9th.

Lauren McGuire is a sophomore professional writing and information design major and writer for Cedars. She loves birthday cake ice cream, watching The Office and late night runs.