The lights dim and immediately conversations turn into anticipatory whispers, creating a hum in the air. All eyes followed senior Marisa Chi, Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra (GSO) Principal Cello, down to stage right as they began to play Passacaglia in G minor on a theme by Handel by Halvorsen. North’s auditorium welcomed the sounds of the Strictly Strings Festival.
The GSO is a district audition program combining sophomores through senior musicians of South and North, directed by GSO Co-Directors Aaron Kaplan and Rachel Atlas. Although the October 22nd festival included many members of the GSO, it isn’t a part of a GSO performance, Kaplan said. The festival consists of two parts, the first half a performance of chamber music pieces and solo performances and the second, a collaboration piece between 8th grade musicians, the freshman orchestra, and the GSO section leaders, Kaplan explained.
“The biggest difference [from the typical orchestra concerts] is that it’s usually just the high school students playing,” Kaplan said. “ The festival is a hybrid of both GSO and the other [chamber music groups].”
The first portion of the festival consisted of chamber music performances, which included quartets, quintets and duets, all played by GSO section leaders, Kaplan said. Section leaders are select string players from GSO, who play in the first or second chair of each instrument section, Kaplan said. Myles Yiu, GSO Associate Concertmaster and Section Leader performed as the head violin player for two chamber pieces in the festival. The chamber music pieces are complicated to perfect, but exciting to perform, Yiu said.
“I really like Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet. It’s a very energetic piece and it’s quite fast, that adds to the difficulty,” Yiu said. “Getting it to sound clean with the whole group is a challenge, but it’s really rewarding if it’s done well.”
The curtains closed as the last chamber performance group walked off the stage and after a few minutes of intermission, the second section of the performance began. The 8th grade section is an exciting element and a big recruitment event for the future South musicians, Kaplan explained. All 8th grade string players from Attea, Springman, Maple, Field, Wood Oaks and Northbrook Junior High School come for a rehearsal field trip to learn two orchestra pieces. The 8th graders then perform with the freshman orchestra and the GSO section leaders for the two finale pieces, Kaplan said.
“Our goal is to inspire the students,” Atlas said. “The music program is welcoming to every student. We hope to get to meet them and inspire good musicianship, so that they feel the love and want to join freshman year.”
Principal Cellist Marrisa Chi was one of the section leaders who led the performance. Playing cello since she was three, one of her favorite parts is being able to play with her friends, Chi said.
“My favorite thing about the festival is how we could inspire the incoming 8th graders to join one of my favorite classes, orchestra,” Chi said.
