orchestra – AHS NEWSPAPER

Aspiring Musicians of AHS Travel to NYC

January 25, 2024

By Samantha Sun
STAFF WRITER

The AHS chorus, orchestra, and band students will compete in the Heritage Festival in New York City this April, from the 11 to the 14.

The four-day trip includes a grander scale performance and a cultural experience in New York. The New York Heritage Festival is held multiple times a year by WorldStrides, a trustworthy educational travel organization, and allows students to perform at Riverside Church in front of three nationally acclaimed adjudicators.

Each ensemble will have the chance to perform for a fifteen-minute time frame, have a mini-clinic with one of the adjudicators, watch other students perform, and receive a professional recording of their performance.

“We wanted to have an opportunity for our students to travel, compete, learn, and have a lot of fun,” said chorus director Lauren Peithmann. She participated in a similar festival in high school, “[It was] so important to my development as a musician and it inspired me,” Peithmann explained. She is looking forward to sharing this experience with her students.

STAFF PHOTO / Saarvi Deshwal
AHS band, orchestra, and chorus students practice for the Heritage Festival in New York City.

“It’s a cool thing to play for other people and not just for ourselves,” added band director Jeffery Kuchan. “It’s an important thing [to have] our identity as…the Andover community.” This is notably the first chorus, orchestra, and band field trip, and for a lot of students, this will be their first time performing outside of Andover.

Although the performance isn’t until spring, students are working hard and are confident in their abilities to represent AHS. “I’m going to shred on the bass clarinet!” exclaimed sophomore Tessa Helle, a band student who plays the clarinet. Their performance pieces are still undergoing preparations but they are excited to show off what they’ve been working on by the time April comes around.

Meghna Singh-Joglekar, a sophomore and orchestra student, added her input. “I think I’m most excited to perform and see what the judges are going to say.” With the large amount of time and effort students have been putting into their musical work, they are curious about the judge’s feedback and comments.

Lyric Bartleson, also a sophomore who is a part of the chorus added, “I think it’s just a really good experience to give us something besides a concert, something we can work hard for.” This opportunity helps push students to explore beyond the scope of what school ensembles provide and to watch what other ensembles have prepared.

Their performance and evaluation are top priorities, however, the cultural experience is just as important. On their way to New York, they plan to stop by Connecticut where the orchestra and chorus will visit Yale University in New Haven. The Band plans to visit the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford.

Then, they will get the chance to explore the places New York has to offer, such as Times Square, the 9/11 Memorial Museum, a Broadway show, a New York Philharmonic recital, restaurants, and much more.

To help those in need of financial aid and to overall lower the cost of the trip, Tri-M, the music honor society, collaborated to create a series of fundraisers. They sold butter braids which are sweet pastries, for their first fundraiser. Band, orchestra, and chorus students encouraged other AHS students to order these pastries to contribute to the fundraiser.

During the winter holidays, they held a Little Caesars fundraiser where people could order a pizza kit and order it to their house. In the spring, they plan to hold a mattress fundraiser where they are going to have a big expo for them in the West Middle cafeteria. Then perhaps a few restaurant profit shares where a percentage will go towards the trip.

“I strongly encourage everyone to check us out and support us,” said Kuchan.

The final evening they are in New York, there will be an awards ceremony with WorldStrides where all the high schools will gather. To end the night, they will “go on a cruise around Manhattan with dinner and dancing, a nice way to close up the trip,” concluded Peithmann.

In a One, Two, Three!: Students in Andover High School’s Orchestra mentor Lowell Students in music

January 13, 2023

Anika Nagle
STAFF WRITER

The cascade of notes coalesces into gentle music as fingers glide over taut strings. The bow slides over a mahogany violin and a sweeping crescendo rises to accompany the cello. Lowell High School resounds with a glorious harmony as the astounding talent of our school nourishes a love of music within the students of Lowell.

With whole hearts and minds abuzz, Andover orchestra students mentor kids in Lowell as part of Afternoon in the Arts. This program is an initiative wherein Lowell elementary and middle school students are coached in a wide array of musical disciplines—band, chorus, dance, and orchestra—free of charge in regards to both the tutelage and the cost of instruments.

With varying degrees of experience, yet with constant smiles and eagerness, students exploring string instruments gather at the Lowell High school twice a week. They are taught fundamentals, such as scales and notes, and proceed to reinforce their lessons by playing assorted pieces ranging in difficulty based on a students’ prior experience.

However, it is more than just the Lowell students who benefit from these afternoons. Andover mentors benefit as well. Teaching is a rewarding experience, and there is no doubt a unique joy stemming from the shared laughter and smiles in a mentor-mentee relationship.

“I sometimes see them getting this ‘aha’ moment, like, ‘Oh, I get this rhythm,’ or ‘Oh, I finally know this note,’” Vivian Tang, an Andover High School senior, said. “This is my first time teaching, so for them to get something, it’s a big accomplishment.”

“It’s nice to see them learn something, and the smile on their faces,” senior Elizabeth Shin added. “When they are happy, you are happy too.”

Upon seeing your mentees face light up with joy, there is an indescribable pride that comes as a result. However, this is a pride earned through hard work and difficulties. “In addition to helping the Lowell students, they are also learning the art of teaching,” Dr. Derek Voigt, the orchestra director at AHS and a faculty member at Afternoon in the Arts stated. They are “realizing what’s going well, what’s not going well, and learning from that,” he continued. An Andover mentor echoed a similar sentiment, saying “You are learning along the way too sometimes, each group has its own different needs, and you have to make sure you accommodate to each of those needs…that could be one-on-one or maybe getting everyone together [in] sectionals[groups characterized by specific instruments].”

Afternoon in the Arts is an environment which forges cherished relationships through both dedicated guidance as well as treasured memories. “During Halloween, the first day that we had come, we were giving candy to the kids… that was really fun… we got to bond together,” Elizabeth Shin said, smiling.

However, more than celebrations and holidays are the day-to-day interactions at Afternoon in the Arts that create fond recollections for students of both schools. Madeline Shin, another Andover student, said, “I just love talking to them, they are very sweet and they have a lot of stories to tell, and it’s just nice to talk to them one on one.”

These students are gearing up towards an upcoming concert and excitement builds up as new pieces are introduced. First-year and second-year students will be playing different songs, with the former focusing on holiday songs to reflect the Christmas season. As of now, their pieces aren’t set in stone, yet we can expect some holiday classics. “When they first played Jingle Bells, and were told ‘Okay, you are doing that at the concert,’ they were like ‘Oh no!’” Voigt joked, “[but] then they played it through all the way.” As for the second year students, they are challenging themselves with more complex pieces for the concert, such as “M” [sic] and “Russian Music Box”. “M” is a fast paced song for which students will have to master their scales and notes to create the intricate music. However, the challenge is its own reward, and utmost dedication can be seen on both ends — from both the Andover students and their mentees.

Articles Arts

AHS Student Composes Original Piece for Orchestra

May 17, 2022

Angela Mac
STAFF WRITER

Jacqueline Zhu, an Andover High School junior, composed and will conduct a piece titled “Waltz in D Minor.” It will be performed by the AHS orchestra on May 18 in the Collins Center.

Zhu, a cellist, wrote the waltz as an assignment for a private lesson outside of AHS. She said, “The overarching theme of the piece is the nostalgia of something you have never experienced before.”

Along with writing “Waltz in D Minor,” Zhu will conduct the piece. Zhu was brand new to conducting. In January, she was introduced to it by Dr. Derek Voigt, the orchestra director. As she took lessons with Voigt, she became more coordinated with the movements. Of being the one conducting instead of playing, Zhu said, “It feels exhilarating, kind of terrifying, but I’m also stoked.”

COURTESY PHOTO / Jacqueline Zhu
Jacqueline Zhu, a junior, playing the cello

Composing music for an orchestra is a first for Zhu. Also the ANDOVERVIEW copy editor, she has written pieces for other instruments in the past. When asked if composing music was difficult, she responded, “It was hard to form ideas, it’s kinda like having writer’s block.” Other challenges Zhu faced were creating the piece she envisioned and composing multiple parts for different instruments.

“Waltz in D Minor” is a modern waltz. Voigt said the “harmonies are rich, the rhythms are clear, and the parts are very approachable by any orchestra.” What makes the piece unique is its use of hemiolas, or three against two poly-rhythms. A hemiola is a rhythmic pattern in which three beats are superimposed over two beats. With hemiolas, there is the effect of a shift between triple and duple time, even though the time signature is not altered. “Waltz in D Minor” also includes interesting cadences and chords. Voigt describes Zhu’s piece as not quite somber, but it is rather dark in the beginning. When it changes keys, it gives the song an entirely different effect.

Camille Miner, an AHS senior and the concertmaster of the orchestra, finds “Waltz in D Minor” riveting. “I enjoy how it has a lot of light romantic themes however in a more modern sense,” Miner complimented. “It also reminds me a lot of Joe Hisaishi’s work” (Hisaishi is famous for his beloved collaborations with Studio Ghibli animation director Hayao Miyazaki). She also revealed that Zhu’s piece has a lot of 8va sections. 8va is an abbreviation of “at the octave”, and when written in music it indicates that the notes should be played one octave higher than written in the score.

Though Zhu has proved to be quite proficient in many aspects of music, she plans to pursue a major in botany or plant science in college. However, she may pursue music, such as composition, as a minor.