For some students in the orchestra program, the culmination of the spooky season turned  from candy and costumes to music and melodies at the annual Lebanon Valley College Honors Orchestra.

  The select ensemble, which gathers participants from numerous counties around Pennsylvania, met at the college on October 30 and 31 for two jam-packed days of rehearsals and performing, led by prolific conductor and performer Dr. Johannes Dietrich.  

  School orchestra director and teacher Zachary Levi described the basics of the festival, which Susky students have been involved in for about seven years.

  “LVC Honors Orchestra is an opportunity for students who are high school age to participate in a festival where they perform a concert after a Friday rehearsal and a Saturday rehearsal,” said Levi. “It’s a non-audition festival. Students go based on recommendation by their teacher, and when they are participating they are mixed in different seats, so that way it’s not…designed to be very competitive.”

  This lack of excessive pressure and creative music choices were a big draw to the orchestra for senior and violist Emma Gruner, who was second chair in her section at the festival.

  “[It] gives kids an opportunity to play some more challenging music with different people and a different conductor, but without the pressure of districts or Youth Symphony orchestra,” Gruner said. “…I think it’s cool that [Dr. Dietrich] incorporates music from…composers he knows, and…they really try to make this a fun and really different experience…rather [than] just playing all of this classical stuff which, you know, isn’t bad, but all this new, fun music that’s sometimes been arranged or written just for us is…really cool.”

  Though the seating arrangement for the festival is not based on skill level, the experience of leading an orchestral section is still a powerful and educational one according to sophomore cellist Justin Feild.

  “I love to be able to lead others and kind of help them along, like if they’re looking for someone to kind of watch if [they] have any questions about the music…I enjoy being in that position and helping other people,” said Feild.

  Learning how to set an example isn’t the only takeaway that students often have from the festival – playing difficult pieces and meeting new people from other parts of the state are some of the most valuable experiences that a young musician can have, according to Levi.

  “I think it serves as a challenge, so it raises the level of the students that participate,” Levi said. “Mostly students are playing music that might be a little bit harder than school orchestra…it’s beneficial because students get a chance to learn how to network, because they’re meeting students from all over several counties…they get a chance to see a college they might consider going to…and they also work with a  great musician and conductor in Dr. Dietrich.”

  Feild took the same central idea away from his honors orchestra experience.

  “The school orchestra, it’s a great place to bond with your classmates and..create that one collective unit,” Feild said. “…Once you get outside of that and meet new people, it’s a chance to kind of get that same bond, but with people outside of your school.”

  Now in her second year with the orchestra, Gruner confirms that the exposure to new and interesting ideas hasn’t gotten stale over time.

  “[It] just gives me more access to certain techniques or pieces that I wouldn’t normally [have], and experience with different conductors…and different people, [and] big orchestras versus small orchestras,” said Gruner.

  As the annual performance drew to a close on Halloween night, the student performers got one rousing reminder that all of their hours of learning and practice hadn’t gone to waste; after a standing ovation lasting minutes, Dr. Dietrich reappeared on stage for an encore of “Blue Mountain,” the favorite piece of many of the participants, and as the final note was played, the crowd was sent into another frenzy of applause.

  Maybe the loss of candy and costumes was worth it after all.