‘Once upon an Orchestra’ Concert Spins its Tale

 The Susquehannock and Southern Middle School orchestras presented the theme of musical stories for their annual fall concert held on Tuesday, October 24.

  Orchestra director Zachary Levi’s inspiration from the opera “Hansel and Gretel” by Engelbert Humperdinck drove the song selections in their performance.

  Levi had great confidence in his orchestra, anticipating the night would be a success.

  “I think the students know how to execute musically well. I’ve always found that in concert time they always seem to rise to the occasion that’s there and make great music,” said Levi.

  Sophomore John Kroh enjoys getting the opportunity to perform on the oboe with the string players.

  “I did not expect to get into full orchestra at first. . . it seems really fun just getting into orchestra because I could not play string instruments to save my life,” said Kroh.

  The Select Strings ensemble is comprised of orchestra members who take on more responsibilities with music and performance such as playing at school and community functions.

  Junior bass player Greyson Daviau shares how the Select Strings brought to life the iconic song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen through their hard work and preparation.

  “This was the first time we memorized our piece, so it took a lot of individual work. We did choreography as well with the infinity [formation] and met every Tuesday and Friday at 7 a.m.,” said Daviau.

  As with the previous fall concerts, players and audience members are invited to wear costumes, sparking up a Halloween atmosphere.

  Levi captivated the audience with his transformation from frog to prince as the spell was broken during the SMS song “The Frog Prince.”

  Kroh, who dressed up as a priest, shares his favorite costumes of the night.

  “Lucas Schwanke was Dr. Doofenshmirtz to one of the people in the orchestra, Maddie [Geiple], her Perry the Platypus. Their duo [from T.V. series “Phineas and Ferb”] was probably my favorite one,” said Kroh.

  Daviau explains what it is like being taught under Levi, an experienced orchestra conductor.

  “He is very organized and is very knowledgable in what he does, so it is very enjoyable for me,” said Daviau.

  Levi appreciates all the support for maintaining this orchestra concert tradition of sharing students’ musical talent and Halloween fun with the school and community.