Annual Spaghetti and Strings '16-'17

Samo Orchestra’s annual Spaghetti and Strings concert, well known for serving dinner (spaghetti) while students perform, was held on Feb. 10. This year, the venue was changed from the Samo cafeteria to the Le Meridien Hotel, just across the street. The new venue was well received by the audience, and the event sold out weeks in advance. Held in the penthouse of the Meridien, Spaghetti and Strings featured a silent auction selling items such as a pink guitar signed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, timeshare in Hawaii plus many others. A raffle for Disney Park Hopper Tickets, a Beats Speaker (complete with a year-long subscription to Spotify Premium) and a flatscreen TV was also held. The concert was a successful fundraiser for the Samo Orchestras and will go towards scholarships for the Philharmonic Orchestra to travel and perform in Seattle this upcoming Spring at the University of Washington and Chief Sealth International High School.Symphony director Joni Swenson, believes that this year’s Spaghetti and Strings was a huge hit.“The event was highly successful. I had worried that we wouldn’t fit into the ballroom of the hotel, but it actually worked out quite well. The ambience was so much nicer than our school cafeteria,” Swenson saidWith a duration of two hours, the concert consisted of the top three Samo orchestras along with two chamber groups playing classical symphonic works by many different composers. According to Swenson, the students put on a successful concert for the audience.“It was quite profitable as well as the concert being really well done. I think the students played extremely well. One of the highlights was Nanki Chugh (’18) on Por Una Cabeza,” Swenson said.The overall concert raised a lot of money from the selling of raffle tickets and silent auction items. The $1 raffle tickets were sold by orchestra students themselves, and the auction items were kindly donated and bid on while the chamber groups played.“It was a completely successful fundraiser. We don’t have the final numbers yet, but the drawing made quite a bit of money as well as the auction,” Swenson said. Overall, the event continued to hold the good reviews it receives each year, and will be followed by the upcoming Spring Concert on Mar. 6, 2017.