All three of the Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s orchestras recently had their annual Winter Concert, on Wednesday, December 14.

The concert included performances of BR90, the Bridgewater-Raritan Ninth Grade Orchestra, the Concert Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestra. 

Even though the concert itself started at 7 p.m., the preparation started well over an hour before. Players in each ensemble reported to the high school to practice and make final adjustments to their pieces. Meanwhile, the OPA, or Orchestra Parents’ Association, served refreshments.

The first ensemble to play was BR90, the youngest of the three, who performed four pieces, as did the other two. They were: “Palladio”, by Karl Jenkins, “Ani Ma’Amin” (meaning “I Believe” in Hebrew), “I Dreamed a Dream”, and “Fantasia on the Dargason”. “I Dreamed a Dream” and “Fantasia on the Dargason” are two more famous compositions, as the former is from the hit musical based on the novel Les Misérables, and the latter is often performed by professional orchestras.

Second to go was the Concert Orchestra, which played “Themes from Concerto in A Minor” by Antonio Vivaldi, “Troika” by Sergei Prokofiev, music from La La Land, and “Perseus”. The last piece is similar to “Palladio”, as it is a piece made for student orchestras. Additionally, both “Troika” and the music from La La Land are from movies, with “Troika” being from a Soviet film known as Lieutenant Kije. 

Finally, the Symphony Orchestra played at the end.

It is the only orchestra that permanently includes non-string instruments (the others only have the violin, viola, cello, and bass), such as the clarinet, french horn, flute, and others. On that night, they performed “Symphony No. 40 in G minor” by  Mozart, “Adagio-Moderato from Cello Concerto, Op. 85” by Edward Elger, “Allegro from Double Bass Concerto, Op. 3” by Serge Koussevitsky, and finally “Egmont Overture” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

The second composition involved an amazing solo cello, Geoffrey Li, the star of the piece. Li is a senior and a teaching assistant under the conductor of all three orchestras, Hsiao-Yu Griggs. He is also the first seat of the cello section in his ensemble. Likewise, the third piece saw solo bassist Alexander Lu play stunningly. The double bass is a massive instrument, six feet in length, and solos for it are often rare. Nonetheless, Lu, who is also a senior, captivated the audience with his solo.

After this success, the orchestra has several upcoming events.

Soon after the break, all ensembles have their seating auditions in January, which will determine where each player sits. The audition results for the New Jersey Regional Orchestra  Central Jersey) were also announced, with quite a few BRHS students earning honors. The three ensembles worked very hard, especially the two soloists, practicing and preparing for months, and were able to pull off a fantastic performance this winter.