Orchestra and jazz band played in their final performance of the year at the Spring Instrumental Concert in the Patil Theater on May 1.
The concert served as a way for the instrumental department to honor the graduating seniors, who received flowers and gift bags at the end of the show. Instrumental teacher Jaco Wong also spoke about each graduating senior and their contributions to the program, sharing anecdotes and highlighting attributes like hard work and reliability.
Sophomore percussionist Vivian Wu joined the orchestra this year, and she cherished the opportunity to honor the seniors’ hard work and listen to their solo parts.
“This time we had some really complex repertoire, and I felt proud showing off what the seniors could do,” Vivian said. “There was a really strong sense of accomplishment because we did a lot in one year. I also felt really bittersweet because this would be my last time performing with them.”

Earlier that evening, the middle school orchestra performed in their own spring concert in the Patil Theater. Before the upper school show began, middle and high school orchestra members participated in a chamber music event, where small groups performed short quartet or quintet pieces together for attendees in the RPAC lobby.
The middle and upper school orchestras joined together onstage at the start of the show to perform “Nimrod” by Edward Elgar, filling the theater with the rich, lively music of the large cross-campus ensemble.
Junior Erica Wang composed the full-orchestra piece “Slate Fog, Lapis Waters” under the guidance of Wong and her extracurricular composition instructor. Erica debuted the piece during the concert, transforming the theater into a whimsical seascape with blue and purple lighting. The music featured dramatic strings, whispery wind instruments and the twinkling glockenspiel, a percussion instrument with tuned metal bars arranged in a keyboard layout.
Erica had created music for smaller chamber groups before, but never for a full orchestra. She described the elaborate process of layering various instruments in a score.
“Usually I would come up with a melody first, which is a lot of trial and error.” Erica said. “My composition teacher helped me a lot with deciding which instruments would blend well and what type of effect I wanted. I was really nervous going into the piece, but I was also very proud, and I was smiling pretty much the entire way through.”
In addition to Wong and instrumental teacher David Hart, student conductors Rohan Ramukumar (12), Patricia Li (9) and Savitha Satish (11) led the orchestra in four different pieces.
Earlier this year, all orchestra seniors competed in the Senior Concerto Competition for a chance to be featured in a concerto, a piece of classical music that highlights solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra. Concertmaster Andre Lu (12) and associate concertmaster Alex Zhong (12) won the competition and performed as soloists in “Navarra” by Pablo de Sarasate.

After their performance, orchestra members walked across the stage and each dropped a bag of chips in a pile at their feet, honoring the two seniors’ love of food.
The orchestra and jazz band closed off the concert with a high-energy rendition of “Spring Festival Overture” by Li Huanzhi.
Andre reflected on the lighthearted atmosphere of the night and cherished the opportunity to perform with the orchestra one last time before graduation.
“It’s a little sad when you think about it being my last concert, but then I remember how we played really great, so it doesn’t get as sad,” Andre said. “The last two pieces went really well. Even though we weren’t really together, there was a lot of spirit. We were having fun instead of stressing over if it was good or bad.”