ORCHESTRATING A FAMILY

Sitting in the first chair of the second violin in the orchestra as a freshman, Alana Saliba ‘23 faced the responsibility of navigating a tense dynamic in the ensemble.

“I knew that the seniors didn’t want me there,” Saliba said. “There was a big divide between the seniors and the underclassmen. We didn’t talk. We didn’t hang out.”

Three years later, Saliba is a leader in orchestra. Now, she prioritizes looking out for her peers.

“We are trying to foster a community where everyone feels safe and welcomed because high school is really, really hard,” Saliba said. “I do my best to try and help freshmen out. It’s almost like a big sibling kind of thing.”

The tension that once plagued the room is no longer and laughter echoes through the classroom.

“The community just blossomed into something that is really wonderful for myself and everyone else involved,” she said. They even visited the local haunted house Terror in the Corn with the entire orchestra.

Exchanging nods and smiles, the bonds within the community become part of their symphony.

“Having respect for the people around you helps you want to listen to them more and foster a better sound because we’re listening to each other,” Saliba said. “Music is its own language.”

To Saliba, POPS, a departmentwide concert, always brings her an absolute delight of harmonizing all types of music together.

“POPS has its own special flavor,” she said. ”We had groups of people from all the different music programs,” she said.

“Everybody’s there together for three days. Just being together, listening to each other, and hanging out.” sundowns, a far cry from the warm summer nights the band was used to.

Caught somewhere in her four years in music, those three days are the moments Saliba cherishes the most.

“All we want collectively, is to spread love and kindness through music,” she said.

“After that competition, we started to focus more on improving our rehearsals and limiting the distractions,” Brown said.

After weeks of focused practice and climbing up the ranks in later competitions, the state championship at Air Force Academy on the weekend of Oc. 29 was where the band wanted to show their how much work they’ve put into improving the show.

“We ended up getting 4th in State against 60 other bands,” Brown said. “Walking off the field, we were much more elated. We knew we tried our hardest, and we got to reap the rewards of our product.”

The hard work that’s been put towards the shows has motivated the band to work as an effective team.

“There’s nothing better than walking off the performance space and knowing you did your best,“ said Brown. “The joy and excitement you feel afterwards is worth all the hours and work put in.”