Choral and orchestral music filled the auditorium on Tuesday, December 17 as the String and Symphonic Orchestras and the Camerata, Cantata, and Silvertones ensembles performed their well-rehearsed repertoire to family and friends.
According to the concert program, the choral selections were inspired by themes of welcome, celebration, and wonder. Orchestral selections were all connected to the French-speaking people of the world and a continued theme of “home.”
“I definitely say that was a concert for the history of books,” senior Wendy Chen said. Chen is a member of the chorus and orchestra. “It was very sweet, very entertaining, and I feel like the atmosphere of the concert was just so bubbly and radiant, and it was a really nice end to our winter semester. It’s a nice way to head off into break.”
One instrumental favorite was “The Polar Express.” After performing to staff and classmates in their second-floor pop-up concert, the symphony orchestra was able to showcase it to their families and community.
“It’s just such a fun piece to play,” Chen said. “I also loved all the little moments that we got to connect with the audience who really made this concert something really special.”
A choral highlight was the Cantata’s performance of Randall Thompson’s “Frostiana.” Cantata shared seven movements of this work inspired by Robert Frost’s poetry, with Camerata joining them for the final movement titled “Choose Something Like a Star.”
The concert featured a performance of a five-person chamber ensemble of Strath Haven student musicians also enrolled in the Delaware County Youth Orchestra—Juliette Loyd, Jason Zhang, Ricky He, Vincent Zhu, and Jonathan Knapp. The performance before the start of the string orchestra was unlisted in the program.
Throughout the symphony orchestra portion of the concert, some string instrument pieces broke, halting the performance. While students repaired their instruments, sophomore orchestra member Juliette Loyd took the lead to keep the concert ambiance enjoyable.
“It was a lot more fun than I thought,” Loyd said. “Especially with all the instruments breaking, there was a lot of awkward silence, so I thought I would fill it in and ask if it was anyone’s birthday. I was like, ‘There should be something that’s going on.’ I didn’t really think about it, honestly.”
Not just the students and community enjoyed the concert, but also choral director Mrs. Lindsay Reinhard Silva and orchestra conductor and instrumental teacher Mr. Nicholas Pignataro. For Silva, this was her first Haven concert, and her own loved ones were also in attendance.
“I had a great time. It’s my passion in life, so that’s why it’s such a joy to make music with students every day because conducting and working with choirs is just, I think, the best job in the world,” Silva said. “It was pretty special because my family actually got to see their first Strath Haven performance.”
Both the orchestra and choirs have many exciting opportunities coming up for their spring performances.
For Silva, chorus students will learn new music and work with a professional choir.
“I always think it’s really fun to study new things,” she said. “We have a professional choir coming to work with Cantata next semester called Variant Six, and they are really fabulous early music specialists, so they’re going to be working on some Bach with us.”
The orchestra will play some Star Wars-themed music, according to Pignataro. He is also planning for another composer, Erin Busch, to visit with the students as they learn her work “Volando sobre Neltume.” Composer Jordan Jinosko previously visited the orchestra as they learned her compositions in 2022 and 2023.
“[Busch] is someone who wrote the music, sold us this music, and was very generously interested in coming to talk to the students about it,” Pignataro said. “So not only will we play her music, but we’ll get to have the composer inside, too. That’s going to be a highlight.”
