The NPHS Orchestra Winter Concert took place on Tuesday, December 13th in the NPHS Performing Arts Center at 7 PM. Each of the orchestras were able to perform at least two pieces with teacher and conductor Lorianne Alegria, who is also the director of percussion, and the marching band, and indoor marching ensembles. “We definitely offer a lot here at the high school and I’m happy to showcase the orchestras this evening,” says Lorianne Alegria. The concert was made possible by with the help of Lori Getty and Zack Frank this semester with the NPHS music programs, the North Port Symphony for numerous donations to the orchestra program, the parents, NPHS Faculty, Administration, and the audience’s support. 

The Prelude orchestra began playing first for the night. The prelude orchestra performed “Riders in the Night” composed by Soon Hee Newbold and “Thundersnow!” composed by Katie O’Hara Labrie. Prelude orchestra is mostly composed of freshman and sophomores, each student having different skill sets. “The older kids work with the kids that are new and it’s a really cool aesthetic in the room where one of them will turn to the other and say, “I think it goes like this!” or “Hey, can you help?” it’s been a lot of fun working with them this year,” says Lorianne Alegria. Afterwards, the concert orchestra, consisting of the largest group of students- freshman to seniors- performed “A Forest Snowfall” composed by David Bobrowitz and “Mabel Creek Overture” composed by William G. Harbinson. After these two pieces, the advanced orchestra ensemble joined the concert on stage to perform “Forever Joyful” composed by Brian Balmages. “I’d like students to have the opportunity to play with a larger group, and it’s also nice to combine skill sets together as well… It’s a great experience for the younger members of concert to be able to play with older students,” says Lorianne. The Pops orchestra ensemble played next, performing “The Magical World of Pixar” arranged by Robert Longfield, “Rolling in the Deep” arranged by Larry Moore, and “Music from Frozen” arranged by Robert Longfield. Pops orchestra is an audition only group which plays music from the radio, TV, and movies. Doing so helps the students learn rhythmic techniques, “We have to figure the count structure out and sometimes it’s really really complicated because it’s based off of the spoken word- It’s actually pretty intense! If you didn’t know, you use rhythm every single day of our life. You are full of rhythm using it in our spoken language,” says Lorianne. The Pops group consists of sophomores to seniors, including some of the VPA orchestra members. Finally, the advanced orchestra concluded the concert by performing “Rhythmic Snapshots of Christmas” composed by Brian Balmages, “The Journey of the Magi” arranged by Robert Longfield, and :Happy Holiday/White Christmas” arranged by Ted Ricketts. The advanced orchestra ensemble is also an audition only group consisting of sophomores through seniors. These students are able to be rhythmic and strong, in addition to having the ability to shift in multiple positions and knowledge of working on extended techniques such as vibrato, bowing techniques, and styles. 

The orchestra ended with Mrs. Allegria giving her thanks to admin and other supporters of the NPHS orchestras. Percussionists Jose Fuentes and Hayley Smith were also present and volunteered to perform with the orchestra groups. For further orchestra information and updates, email [email protected] for more details. OPPA, the orchestra and percussion parent association, is interested in looking for volunteers and more involvement in the orchestra community.  

 Mrs. Alegria Concert Transcript: 

“…Prelude Orchestra, and they are comprised of mostly freshman and sophomores with all different skill sets in this group- all the way from “I’ve never played before” to “I’ve played for several years so it’s a really exciting group of kids and um I think thorough it all, the older kids work with the kids that are new and it’s really kind of um cool aesthetic in the room where one of them will turn to the other and say,”I think it goes like this!” or “hey can you help?” so it’s been a lot of fun working with them this year.”  That was riders of the night: “the other things we work on in here is style and also pieces that tell a story, so there may have been moments in the song where you can hear the horse you know, kind of trotting through the fields and you might have heard the cowboy taking a snooze on the front porch and at the end, hopefully you saw the sunset go down! Really fun group and I’ve had a great time with it.  

“Im also the director of percussion, and the marching band, and out indoor marching ensembles. We definitely offer a lot here at the high school and I’m happy to showcase the orchestras this evening.  

“Concert orchestra is the largest group of students. Freshman through Seniors. So this is the concert orchestra. This is a large mix of students 9th thorough 12th grade. Some are newer to the instruments, some are called a secondary instrument, and some love 3rd period because it’s the best part to break their day in half so they might have hard class, hard class, orchestra and then lunch, and then a couple of hard classes at the end, so it’s a nice part of the day. I have one student that is brand new to strings, and a brilliant flutist, and ive got some students who are members of the VPA in this group. So there are tons of different skill sets. It’s a really fun class and this time I would like to invite the advanced orchestra members on the stage. I like to combine classes every so often. I think it’s a great opportunity for two things. Number one, to sit in a large orchestra setting, It’s really hard in my room. If you’ve never been inmy room, it is tiny, and the group without the added numbers just barely sits comfortably in the room. So I’d like students to have the opportunity to play with a larger group, and it’s also nice to combine skill sets together as well. This is my advanced group coming in. And its just a great experience for the younger members of concert to be able to play with older students.  

“This is an audition only orchestra and the skill set we use in here is sometimes tougher than the advanced skill set- not always- but sometimes it is.  and that is mostly because we play stuff on the radio, stuff off the tv stuff off the movies and I do that because of the way you have to learn rhythm. Because we have Taylor Swift. Taylor swift is probably not thinking, “well, the count structure of shake it off is one-and-two-and-a-threeie-and” She’s not thinking that at all! Shes thinking well it just goes like this! Well, okay, so, what we have to do is figure that count structure out and sometimes its really really complicated because it’s based off of the spoken word. And that actually pretty intense if you didn’t know you use rhythm every single day of our life. You are full of rhythm using it in our spoken language. So we work on rhythm and we work on shifting which is playing up higher on the strings- which is a complicated skill set. And they have auditioned and mastered that. SO the other cool things we do in here is- and this is mostly for my orchestra students, but for everyone out there, we don’t have a set of first violins vs second violins in this class. We actually alternate so on one piece, one group of violins play first, and on then on the next, they’ll play second so the other group can play first. So we do alternate. And also, I don’t think I have any freshmen in the ensemble this year. Um but occasionally, we get a freshman, but I have sophomores through seniors and I have VPA members so it’s a great group as well.  

“[Advanced] This is an audition only group as well. We do have sophomores, juniors, and seniors in this group. This takes things up another level for our players. Not only do they have to be rhythmic and strong, but they have to be able to shift in multiple positions, and we also work on extended techniques like vibrato and other kinds of bowing techniques and styles.  

“Before we do our last piece, I wanna give some thanks and some shoutouts um first to my two awesome percussionists, Jose and Hailey in the back. They rehearsed no more than twice with any of my groups. They are not in the class, they are in my percussion ensemble classes and they volunteered their time to be here and they learned the music very quickly and they are very awesome and im always happy to have those type of kids volunteer their time, so thank you to them. And I also want to thank our orchestra and percussion parent association board members and board members at large. that is our parent association, we call it OPPA for short- I don’t know if you’re interested, but we’re always looking for volunteers- always looking for help anything- We’re  interested. Our email is on the program [email protected] if your interested in becoming involved and being apart of what we do on a day to day basis. We would love to have more parental involvement. You guys are what makes these kind of things possible, I appreciate that. And I would like to say thank you to my husband, thank you Mr. Alegria for your support, and im probably forgot somebody else, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR ADMIn, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE AND SUPPORTING OUR PROGRAM. “ 

Program: Special Thanks to Lori Getty and Zack Frank for all their help this semester with our Music Programs! A very special thanks to the North Port Symphony  for numerous donations to our program. Special Thanks to the parents, NPHS Faculty, Administration, and our audience for your support! 

Support the NPHS OPPA with Program Advertising! Contact OPPA for details on how to get your aid in the Orchestra’s Spring Concert! Email [email protected] for more details.  

Prelude: 

Riders in the Night composed by Soon Hee Newbold 

Thundersnow! Composed by Katie O’Hara Labrie 

Concert: 

A Forest Snowfall composed by David Bobrowitz 

Mabel Creek Overture composed by William G. Harbinson 

Forever Joyful composed by Brian Balmages (played with the Concert and Advanced orchestras combined) 

Pops Orchestra: 

The Magical World of Pixar Arranged by Robert Longfield 

Rolling in the Deep arranged by Larry Moore 

Music from Frozen arranged by Robert Longfield 

Advanced Orchestra 

Rhythmic Snapshots of Christmas composed by Brian Balmages 

The Journey of the Magi arranged by Robert Longfield 

Happy Holiday/White Christmas arranged by Ted Ricketts