All three of Aliso Niguel High School’s orchestras performed together as a group at Knott’s Berry Farm on Nov. 3. Chamber Orchestra, Advanced Orchestra and String Orchestra combined into one group of around 60 students. They performed repertoire consisting of three pieces of advanced orchestra level music.
Cooper Lee (12), “We are excited to be able to go to Knott’s Berry Farm as a class, especially on a school day.”
Chamber Orchestra, Advanced Orchestra, as well as String Orchestra had a call time of 8:45 a.m. and a departure at 9:15 a.m. from school to to the park.
The orchestra classes performed the pieces “Symphony No. 25,” “Perpetuoso” and “Green Rhythmico.” Prior to the performance, there was a slight miscommunication with the park about setting up for the actual performance. There was a shortage of stands, and multiple students had to share music stands while performing.
Kayla Borlasa (12), says, “Although we had a tiny bit of trouble setting up, we had a lot of fun at the park after the performance.”
Tammy Lee (12), says, “We set up the stage entirely prior to the actual performance, including the chairs and stands. After the performance, we put our instruments away, went back into the park and then spent the whole rest of the day at the park. It was a lot of fun being able to be at Knott’s all day.”
The performance started around 11:20 a.m. in the Fiesta Village and concluded 20 minutes later. Set up time took approximately half an hour. The total amount of time spent on setting up and performing accumulated to around an hour.
Mr. Chen, the orchestra director, says, “I think this is a great opportunity for the students to allow them to perform outside of the normal concert setting. It’s also a good opportunity for students to have fun together, making memories and forming bonds outside of the orchestra classroom. Since we are performing in an outdoor setting, which is very different from our normal indoor setting, students are exposed to different things, like the outdoor sound.”
Mr. Chen adds, “Normally, when we are indoors, the sound reflects off the surfaces, such as the ceilings and the walls, and they can hear each other pretty well, but in an outdoor event where there are no walls, the sound dissipates. It is a different way of performing that gives the students an opportunity to get a learning experience from.”
For the rest of the day, students got to spend their free time roaming around the park, going on rides, eating food, spending time with friends and bonding with other students.
Radha Harrington (11), “I’m happy I got to try a bunch of new rides at Knott’s. The lines were a lot shorter when we went, since we went early on a Friday. It was so fun to be able to spend time with all the orchestra classes together at Knott’s. It was nice to get to interact with the teacher and fellow classmates.”
After a day at Knott’s Berry Farm, the orchestra students left the park around 8:45 p.m. and arrived back at school around 9:15 p.m. Many orchestra students enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with other orchestra students outside of class. They appreciate Mr. Chen for being present, as well as having the chance to bond as a class.
