LOS ALAMITOS, CA — On Oct. 30, the Los Alamitos High School Chamber Orchestra, led by Mr. Padilla, performed a thrilling and suspenseful composition of three pieces for several fifth-period classes as a predecessor before their future concert.  

In a short period allotted for the musicians of around 20 minutes, the talented performers offered three pieces designed to create an anxiety-inducing and avid environment. The group performed compositions of “Rhythm Dances” by Brian Balmages, “Danse Macabre” composed by Camille Saint–Saëns, and “Perseus” by Soon Hee Newbold.

The three songs chosen to be performed achieved what the orchestra wanted to achieve: grasping an eager hook among their audience that was envisioned to be seen straight from an action scene of a movie. The music played by classical instruments of the violin, cello, and other string instruments grabbed the audience’s anticipation of what could come next and proved to be a very enlightening moment during a long school day.

This mini-recital was offered to a limited number of fifth-period classes as a small performance before their first concert and the upcoming Halloween holiday. 

“The fact that this [will be] our first concert of the year has a lot of adrenaline going in, which really [pushed] us to do our best,” junior violinist Ethan Chen said.

From a variety of well-trained and experienced musicians, the main idea of the compact performances was to target a major student demographic that remained unknown of the complicated nature of music that came from the orchestra.

“It’s not a huge student-based thing so being able to take it [locally], shows students how good of an [experience] it can be,” cellist Nikki Or said.

Hopefully, Los Al students and teachers can be motivated enough and act on the extraordinary talent exhibited by the young performers of the Chamber Orchestra by attending performances and recitals in the future.