Huron High School was filled with parents, friends and faculty as the Huron Orchestras prepared for their second concert of the year. On Nov. 30, four different orchestras filled the Meyers Auditorium with music.
This time of year is very sentimental to the Huron Orchestra program. Before the pandemic, the orchestras would have an annual potluck around Thanksgiving where students and their families would bring in homemade dishes to share. This year, they reintroduced the tradition for the first time in five years, with a post-rehearsal potluck the day before the concert.
Clara Bailey, a CHS sophomore, split-enrolls at Huron to participate in the orchestra program there. She has been playing with the Huron Orchestras since her freshman year, playing violin. Excited about the potluck, she couldn’t wait to see her friends and the amazing food.
Bailey’s favorite part about being a musician is playing for others. She loves being on stage and enjoys the sense of catharsis and pride she feels afterward.
“I think it’s cool to be a part of this community and just be able to connect with all these people when we play together,” Bailey said.
Bailey loved the two pieces she played: “Deep River”, an interpretive African American spiritual arranged by Carrie Lane Gruselle; and “Minotaur” by Richard Meyer, which tells the story of the Greek myth of Theseus, the young prince who defeated the Minotaur, a monster that was half-man and half-bull.
After learning about the Greek myth in her world literature class, Bailey was very excited to connect the story and her class to the music.
“‘Minotaur’ is awesome,” Bailey said. “I’ve never played a piece that tells a story like that. It’s one of my favorite orchestral pieces I ever played.”
Yohanna Igarashi, a freshman who also split-enrolls between Community and Huron, also plays the violin. She loves ‘Minotaur’ as well, enjoying the melody and faster pace of the song.
“I like songs that are energetic because they’re fun to play,” Igarashi said.
One thing that helped Igarashi settle into the orchestra at Huron was going to Interlochen Center for the Arts, a summer camp that the Huron Music Association attends right before school starts. In just a week, students learn and perform a few pieces and play music together for over six hours a day. At Interlochen, Igarashi made many friends in the orchestra program before school started, feeling grateful she decided to go.
“I like that [the orchestra program] can do stuff that’s not school-related,” Igarashi said. “It helped me connect with other kids and make more friends.”
