Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s Piu Vivace club held its first meeting of the year on October 8.

Piu Vivace is a string orchestra club where students can enjoy making music with their friends for fun. The club plays many exciting and interesting pieces throughout the year. Piu Vivace members showcase the pieces that they have learned at various locations, performing at senior centers, orchestra concerts, and more.

During the introductory meeting, students were introduced to the club and how it would function during the year. Piu Vivace shared its numerous plans for the year.

To start off, meetings will be structured the same way as the previous school year, with half of the club time dedicated for small ensemble and the other half for large ensemble. Additionally, the club has various performance opportunities, both in school and outside, planned. They also plan on continuing Piu Vivace Movie Night, which started last year as a fundraiser opportunity, as well as hosting a Valentine’s flower-making fundraiser.

Hsiao-Yu Lin Griggs, the advisor for Piu Vivace and the Orchestra Director at the high school, also shared her desire to make the club more student-led this year. That means that a student would be conducting the large ensemble in her stead.

To conclude the meeting, possible officer opportunities were discussed. There are many new positions this year, such as outreach coordinator and snack coordinator.

Anastasia Gatilova, senior and vice president of Piu Vivace last year, shared her plans for the year.

“The intro meeting went really well! It’s exciting to see so many new members and interest from underclassmen this year; it’s awesome to see the club growing,’ she said. “We plan to have many fun events this year, like move nights, holiday-themed fundraisers, busking, and more. We’re looking forward to getting everyone involved and having another memorable year!”

Ashley Nataren Ayala, a junior interested in joining Piu Vivace, also expressed her thoughts on the club.

“Pui Vivace is like a second orchestra class or band class for many, except for the fact that we are our own teachers and we learn through our mistakes and learn to work with others,” Ashley said.

The meeting ended with many interested faces eager to join the club. Students can join Piu Vivace by joining the Google Classroom with the code: 34xb3l2d and coming to the next meeting!