The Choate Symphony Orchestra prepares for their upcoming tour.
Musicians in the Choate Symphony Orchestra excitedly boarded buses headed to Boston this Spring Long Weekend to embark on their first tour since 2020.
Over four days, the orchestra performed a private concert, attended a masterclass with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and embarked on a food crawl across the city.
Touring has always been an important part of the Choate orchestra experience. In the past, the orchestra has traveled to venues in Europe, Turkey, and China, as well as to prestigious locations in the U.S., including the White House and Carnegie Hall in New York City (NYC).
However, touring has not been possible since the orchestra’s trip to Washington D.C. in February 2020 due to Covid-19. In anticipation of the trip, Sarah Yildrim ’23 said, “My freshman year, we went to D.C. for the Washington trip, and that was pretty fun. So that’s why I think this Boston trip will hopefully be good, because this one’s longer, too.” As most members of the orchestra have never toured with a musical group before, this trip was an exciting and educational experience for them.
Involving months of planning by Orchestra Director Mr. Gene Wie, Music Administrator Mrs. Carol Jones, and Global Engagement Manager Ms. Ashley Sinclair, this tour has been a long time in the making. Mr. Wie said, “I came up with the idea of the tour actually during the previous school year, and all the pieces have just been slowly floating into place.”
Ms. Sinclair was in charge of communicating and negotiating with the educational travel company that the School hired to plan the trip, WorldStrides. Mrs. Jones managed the additional logistics that were crucial to execute the trip, such as hotel bookings, waiver forms, and chaperone assignments. “The planning process for me, it’s exciting because I enjoy putting logistics together,” said Ms. Sinclair. “As everything comes together, the little logistics kind of trickle down my way,” she added.
On the morning of April 29, the orchestra performed a private concert for Choate parents, alumni, admitted students, and donors at the Conference Center of the Courtyard Marriott Boston Downtown. The concert program included a diverse set of genres that challenged students to explore more diverse orchestral scores. Two pieces showcased student soloists: Erin Li ’24 on the harp and Paloma So ’23 on the violin. The program featured celebrated composers such as Pyotr Tchaikovsky and John Powell.
The acclaimed star of the show was the world premiere of “Harlem Suite 1958,” a symphonic jazz piece written for the Choate Symphony Orchestra. The suite is a medley of songs from the musical, A Great Day in Harlem. Inspired by a photo of 57 of the greatest jazz artists in 1958 Harlem, New York, the musical tells the story of the music community during the civil rights era.
The score was written in the challenging and rarely played style of symphonic jazz. Oboe player Gavin Boudreau ’24 said, “I’d say that some of the pieces were definitely unfamiliar, especially as classical musicians with the swing aspect … it can be brutal at times.”
One of the suite’s composers, Ms. Alexandra “Lexi” Vollero, visited the orchestra for rehearsal on April 20. A former student of Mr. Wie, Ms. Vollero currently studies at Berklee School of Music in NYC. “The whole nature of the music — it’s syncopated; it’s swung; it defies a lot of the rules set by Western classical music and harmony and rhythm and everything,” she said.
Speaking about her goal in composing the piece Ms. Vollero said, “Just as the work of musicians that came before us inspired us to write this show and now symphonic medley, we hope our piece inspires others to keep exploring music, their communities, and beyond.”
In an effort to feature underrepresented composers in the program, Mr. Wie chose a piece by Emilie Mayer to be played by the orchestra. Due to historic gender prejudice in the music world, compositions like Mayer’s “Symphony No.1 in C minor” have not been popular pieces for orchestras. He felt that including Mayer in this program was a step in the right direction to correcting established inequalities.
“We shouldn’t be constraining ourselves to only the classical masterworks because the historical canon is very biased against people that aren’t western, male, and European,” said Mr. Wie. “For me, as someone who doesn’t really fit into the mold of what the average orchestra conductor looks like either, it’s important for me to play these people’s music.”
Despite this being an orchestra tour, the itinerary included plenty of non-musical activities for the group to bond. There were musical enrichment activities like a bow making workshop and a performance by period instrument chamber orchestra Arpeggione Ensemble. The musicians also visited iconic landmarks, such as the Boston Museum of Contemporary Art and Quincy Market.
The most anticipated event on the itinerary, though, was the “Food Crawl” that explored Boston’s East Somerville neighborhood through tastes from a diverse set of cuisines. Cellist Ryan Kim ’23 said, “You’re going to Boston! You’re having wonderful food, you have wonderful venues, what is there not to be excited about?”
After much planning and practicing, the Choate Symphony Orchestra had a memorable experience filled with opportunities for the musicians to bond while sharing their music with audiences in Boston.
