Music Department celebrates to the tune of success

APPLAUD! Vocalist Catherine Tran (12) and Fluatist Stephanie Zhu (11) receive recognition for their spectacular performances.

By Tyler Vu

Last Saturday, Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Concert Choir and the Treblemakers all performed in the Anaheim Music Heritage Festival.  The festival serves as a place for students from around the world to showcase their hard work.  Students left last Thursday, performed on Saturday and came back exhausted the day after.

“It was great to have some time away from school,” admited cellist Jeffrey Chang.

The music department participates in this annual festival every other year.  This year, groups performed in either Fullerton College or the Rose Center Theater.  After performing three pieces they were scored based on tone, intonation, technique, balance and interpretation. The groups were then awarded appropriately at Disneyland, and individual awards were given to particularly outstanding members.  Every group in the music department scored in the 90-100 point range, earning all gold ratings.

“Going through the hard work of preparing for the competition was stressful, but it was well worth it in the end,” said tubist Christina Vu.

The Treblemakers started off the event with a performance at Fullerton College.  The Vocal Jazz group performed “Moondance,” “Virtual Insanity” and “Waters of March.” Not only did the group place first, vocalist Catherine Tran in particular received a Maestro Award.

“It’s an honor to have been recognized by such renowned musicians.  I’m glad I was able to grow as a musician in my past four years with the PHHS Choral Department,” said Catherine.

Next, Concert Choir followed with their performance of “Feller From Fortune,” “Soneto de la Noche” and “O Meu Maracatu,” scoring second of all the groups present.

“We performed against a few other schools and although we didn’t win, we still had a lot of fun,” expressed vocalist Mabel Orais.

After the previous performance, all the groups moved to the Rose Center Theater to watch Symphony Orchestra play.  The group performed “Petite Suite Movement for-ballet,” “Pavane O.p 50” and “Symphony No. 4 Movement 3,” netting an award for the highest scoring orchestra group present, among other accolades.  In addition to the myriad of ensemble awards, flautist Stephanie Zhu also won a Maestro Award.

“I’d like to thank Ms. Ray for helping me improve,” beamed Stephanie

Finally, Wind Ensemble capped off the festival with “Third Movement of Satiric Dances,” “Sicilienne” and “The Klaxon,” scoring the second highest of all the groups present.

“We’ve been practicing since November,” explained flautist Cindy Do.  “We really wanted to represent the Piedmont Hills music department after four years of being here.”

The next day the groups returned on various busses, tired and accomplished.

“I’d like to thank all the students for managing to put on such a good performance even after the tiring schedule,” praised orchestra teacher Ms. Ray.