I was a student at high school South when it opened in 1973. Such a different school it was then with all “open” classes and only about 700 students in total! There were no honors or AP classes. I was the only student in the entire school who played the cello. This wasn’t so strange when you consider that the orchestra had only seven members. Today, the number of students in the orchestras at the two high schools comprises one-seventh of the student population! We can all be proud of this because the mark of an excellent school district (or any university for that matter) is that it has a vibrant orchestra program. Those of you going on college tours with your high schooler need not look much further than the music department to get an idea of the quality of the institution. If there is only a band and no orchestra, this is an indication of a less enriching and less rigorous environment.
I am happy to say that there are now six high school orchestras in our district as well as hundreds of younger students playing in the elementary and middle school string programs. Such is the appreciation and love of great music in our community that starting in fourth grade, students can get started at a crucial period in their development, in a wonderfully inspirational string program. From the excitement when the fourth graders have their first school concert to the high school symphony orchestras performing major works of art, we have what most schools can only dream of — a musically literate culture making our students the best educated.
What happens to all these orchestra students once they graduate? A few go on to pursue music as a career, but most keep playing their instruments just for pleasure. There is a wonderful local orchestra, Sinfonietta Nova, which is the next step for these orchestral musicians who have moved back to the area after graduation or are simply home for a break from college. To get a taste of the caliber of what Sinfonietta Nova has to offer our community, mark your calendar for Saturday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m. You will enjoy a beautiful concert that will include a magnificent performance of the fourth movement of the Elgar cello concerto by 15-year-old Tzuriel Tong, a student at High School South. Tong came in first place this year in Sinfonietta Nova’s Youth Concerto Competition. Last year, both the first and second place winners were from WW-P! For more information on the upcoming concert, please visit www.sinfoniettanova.org.
Suzanne Dicker
Tuscany Drive, West Windsor
