by Ani Janakiraman ’26
Bellarmine is home to a variety of talented musicians, and many go on to state and national level music programs. But all of them share a common origin: Bellarmine’s chamber orchestra, symphonic band, or percussion ensemble. Just recently, the Chamber Orchestra here on campus performed their winter repertoire at the Leontyne Chapel, featuring “Forever Joyful” by Brian Balmages, Mozart’s “Clarinet Concerto in A Major” featuring Ray Wyant, Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” and finally Bella Bartok’s “Drum Concerto from String Quartet No. 4” featuring Ayush Shah. The orchestra had practiced these pieces since the beginning of the school year, and was proud to finally see their hard work come to fruition. Each piece represented a different type of emotion for the audience to relate to.
Initially, the orchestra had their dress rehearsal, where the musicians warmed up and practiced their pieces. But as the chapel filled up with audience members, at 7 P.M, the orchestra was ready to play for the packed crowd. Mr. Kim, conductor and teacher for the orchestra group started with an opening statement. He highlighted how this “[was] one of the first times that the orchestra is able to perform in the chapel” along with how some of the pieces “[are] not conventional for a string orchestra to play, like the Bartok Drum Concerto.”
The orchestra began with “Forever Joyful,” which is an energetic piece, and was a tone-setter for the rest of the night. After, the orchestra accompanied soloist Ray Wyant for the clarinet concerto. The transition was from a strong, robust piece to the more soft and mellow Mozart piece. After the superb performance by Wyant, the orchestra transitioned to an emotional, sad piece by Barber. Mr. Kim further explained that Samuel Barber’s piece is “a universal one. It’s featured in movies like Splatoon and evokes feelings of sadness.” After the contrast of the low G string notes all the way to the high note crescendo in the Barber piece, the orchestra finally performed the Bartok piece. The Bartok piece was a fitting ending to the night because drummist Ayush Shah ’24 provided robust sound quality with his drums and complemented the orchestra very well.
A key part of the Bellarmine and San Francisco Youth Orchestras, violist Bryan Im ’26 highlighted that “the orchestra at Bell has made significant strides throughout the year: “initially, [we] struggled to play a variety of pieces, but through hard work and practice, we put on a great performance.”
Practice and preparation were crucial not just for music, but also for a plethora of things in life. Bryan said that he liked the repertoire because “the orchestra has taken a jump and has started to play more advanced pieces compared to last year.”
Additionally, senior cellist Eddie Bae ’24 said that “some of the pieces provided some challenges, but were very enjoyable playing.” He hopes that the orchestra can continue this success into the spring.
For this year’s chamber orchestra, the theme of resilience and grit reigns strong. Let’s hope that their success continues into next year, and that the musicians continue to enjoy playing the music that they cherish.
Ani is an Arts Editor for the Bell Online. He consistently uploads articles about campus events and a variety of other topics.