On April 19, the Upper School Orchestra received top honors during their debut recital at the Los Angeles Festival of Gold, earning them an encore performance later that evening.

After traveling to southern California, orchestra members spent the weekend enjoying some leisure time and prepping for the upcoming competition. Students visited Disneyland and participated in a clinic in order to gain feedback on their performances.
On the day of the competition, the orchestra preformed three pieces in front of the judges. Later in the afternoon, it was revealed to the students that they had been deemed the top scoring orchestra at the festival.

“It was such a big honor, because of all the orchestras that competed, we were number one,” Ava Rezvani (11) said.

“We were all very excited, it was the first time we ever won something for the Harker school orchestra,” Gene Wong (10) said. “Mr. Florio [went] to all our hotel rooms and let us know.”

The group returned in the evening for an encore performance in Henry and Renée Segerstrom Concert Hall. As per request of the judges, orchestra played Elgar’s “Cello Concerto in E minor,” featuring Julia Shim (12) as a soloist.

“I think this was a great way to close my last year of orchestra,” Julia said. “It’s been a journey, and its great that to see that everything we’ve worked for together has accumulated to this.”

After their final performance, orchestra had the opportunity to watch the remainder of the show.

“Some of the groups were absolutely mind blowing,” Julia said.

When the show concluded, score sheets indicated that orchestra, along with placing first within other orchestras, had come second overall.