On March 21 and 22, the Lexington High School Chamber Orchestra was awarded a silver medal at the American String Teachers Association’s (ASTA) 2024 National Orchestra Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.
Of the thousands of public school string ensembles who apply to the festival every year, only a dozen are invited to perform and the top three are given medals.
“It’s so hard to be recognized in the top three that once people have done it, they usually go try and pursue other activities and just kind of hold on to that amazing status,” Rachel Jayson, the director and conductor of Chamber Orchestra, said.
This year marks the second year in a row that LHS Chamber Orchestra was invited to the festival. Jayson believes that they outdid their previous year’s performance.
“They crushed it, it was so great. The energy was high, the precision was high, and the focus was incredible,” Jayson said. Despite their initial nervousness, the students in the Chamber Orchestra were satisfied with their performance.
“I was impressed by our ability as a group to focus and support each other during the performance because we were all under a lot of pressure,” Sophia Zhang, a senior and violinist, said. “I think it was our best performance yet because of the focus and the coordination.”
The Chamber Orchestra’s program was challenging and required a lot of preparation. Their opening piece was a particularly difficult Bluegrass composition, Blue Sky Basin. Additionally, their piece Melting Pot, commissioned by Jayson, was not completed until partially through the year.
Furthermore, preparation for the festival provided opportunities for the orchestra to work with guests and composers, like Roger Zare.
“It was a really great process, being able to work with the composer to figure out what kind of sound and kind of message you want to express,” Daniel Kim, a junior and cellist, said.
To finish off their program, they performed the fourth movement of Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence.
“The piece is so chaotic and so hard that even when you’re watching the world’s best string quartet plus two, because it’s a sextet, you’re not sure if they’re gonna make it,” Jayson said.
In addition to performing, the festival experience included workshops with professional musicians and performances by famous ensembles such as Sphinx.
“One thing I really like about ASTA is that it’s really about, ‘Hey, you love what I love, and let’s love it together,’” Jayson said.
Students were able to explore and try out many instruments and innovations among the stands.
“My favorite moment was when I played a $475,000 violin with a $75,000 bow,” Zhang said.
Among the group, there was a greater sense of accomplishment and pride upon departing from Kentucky.
“I’m so proud of them,” Jayson said. “These people aren’t just excelling in orchestra, they’re excelling in all of these other lands, and they choose to spend their time in my orchestra. For that I couldn’t be more grateful.”
