The orchestra will be holding their March concert at 7:30pm on March 17. Over 120 students will be performing a total of seven pieces with the help from an additional 40 students from the wind ensemble.

“I’m pretty excited about the whole thing,” Serge Penksik, orchestra director, said. “I’m always excited to work with the symphony orchestra because we do a bit higher level music, but this year, the concert orchestra has really impressed me with their level of skill and preparation. So I’m very excited about conducting the pieces they’re doing as well.”

The orchestra has been preparing for this concert for over three months, the year’s largest gap between concerts. Because of the extended time, Penksik says he usually saves the hardest pieces of the year for this concert, but says he’s not too worried.

“I think it’s going to be a good concert,” Penksik said. “Obviously, there are always things that could go wrong, but we try to have fun out there. When we get to a concert, we understand ‘okay, we’ve done what we could, now let’s go and do it.’ You can reflect on it after the fact, but at some point, the training has to stop and you have to present what you’ve got. No matter what happens we improve as a result.

The concert also features a flute duet of “Concerto for Two Flutes” by seniors Becky Bieber and Lauren Mazurkiewicz

“We auditioned to solo with the orchestra back in December. We just started playing our solo with the orchestra a couple weeks ago, but we’ve been practicing our parts since summer,” Bieber and Mazurkiewicz said. “The hardest part was probably learning to keep in sync with each other. We have to come in at the exact same time as each other, so we’ve learned to really listen to each other and play together as one.”

Penksik says that one of his goals is to publicize thier concerts a little more. He says the concert has a great line of pieces that the audience will love.

“Honestly, I just want to invite people to come and see these concerts,” Penksik said. “I would like to get more people who are not particularly involved in fine arts to come and stop by because it is free and you get to experience some of the music you don’t regularly hear. So, if anything, I welcome everyone to come and give their support.