THE ECHO

By Miryam Starr// Reporter

Adam Larsen, a sophomore, has been playing cello for four years and currently plays in the Avon symphony orchestra, four-time state champions. Getting into this orchestra as a freshman required re-filming his audition thirty times. He played the scale repeatedly until no mistakes were made and every note was perfect. He repeated the same passage of music until he was satisfied with the results. Even with all of the work he put into it, he was stunned to have gotten in.

“My jaw dropped. I was genuinely amazed that I got in,” Larsen said. “I felt that they had placed me in an orchestra that was just too high for my capability.”

Even now Larsen still considers the audition piece one of the most difficult passages of music he has ever played.

The Avon Orchestra is known for their professionalism; to maintain this, and to give students the opportunities they deserve based on their skill level, they have created six orchestras: concert orchestra, intermezzo orchestra, symphonia orchestra, philharmonic orchestra, chamber orchestra, and the award-winning symphony orchestra. Getting into symphony no matter the age is seen as an accomplishment, but getting into symphony freshmen year is very rare.

The audition is a mash-up of four things. To put it in as simple terms as possible: students must play three scales and a specially curated snippet of one, if not the most difficult piece that the orchestra directors have picked for symphony to play at contest and in their final concert of the school year. This task has been perceived in many ways, daunting, stressful, exiting, and competitive.

Owen Butler, a sophomore violist who also made the symphony orchestra as a freshman, said he practiced tirelessly to achieve his goals.

“I cannot remember how many times I filmed (my first audition) to get in, probably around one hundred. This year, I probably filmed thirty times,” Butler said.

Janiya Pettrie, also a sophomore violist who is in her second year in the symphony, said there’s a lot of expectations that come with making it into the group, especially in your first year at the high school.

“I felt very overwhelmed, and I felt like I had a lot of pressure on me,” Pettrie said.

After being in the Avon symphony orchestra for over a year, the three had something in common. In fact, they had three things in common. One, orchestra was their favorite class. Two, the program pushed them to be the best orchestra players they could be and continues to do so. Lastly, they all ended up really loving the orchestra environment. But is it worth the time, effort, and stress? For Larsen, the answer is yes.

“The music, the members, the directors, and the feelings. It’s just all amazing,” Larsen said.