Samo hosts CODA orchestras

This year Samo had the privilege of hosting the California Orchestra Directors Association (CODA) Honors String and Symphony Orchestras consisting of students from all over California as they prepared for their performance on Dec. 2. The groups have been preparing for the past few months to perfect their pieces to be performed.CODA first started in 1975 as a result of orchestra educators meeting and planning to bring forth more enriched high school orchestra programs. “CODA rotates throughout the state. Barnum is a great venue and Santa Monica is a wonderful destination so the students from other schools throughout the state enjoyed their experience at Samohi,” Orchestra Director Joni Swenson said.The musicians each submitted an audition tape to hopefully be placed in one of two orchestras: string and symphony. CODA releases the audition pieces and scale late in the summer to allow students to prepare to send in their best audition.“I prepared by employing every practice method I had ever heard of a couple days before the audition. I total I spent around three hours of the pieces, but if you stay efficient that goes a long way,” CODA Symphony Orchestra member Arya Shapouri (’19) said. “This year was the most fun CODA experience I’ve had so far. I was with a lot of friends, and being at Samo gave me a confidence boost”.After each of the audition tapes is carefully evaluated by a panel of music educators from throughout the state, they decide who will be in the String and Symphony Orchestras. Once the lists were posted, orchestra students anxiously checked to see if they were accepted into the orchestra. The musicians were sent the music in advance so they can start practicing on their own before the group rehearsals that took place the week before the concert.On Nov. 30 students from various California schools came to Santa Monica to prepare for a full group rehearsal the next day, right before the concert. In order to practice the CODA music, the Samo musicians were pulled out of class. At 8 a.m. that Friday, the musicians split into the two ensembles to rehearse. Two guest conductors were brought in to lead each of the groups. Marcus Tsutakawa led the Honors String Orchestra, and Dr. Cyrus Ginwala led the Honors Symphony Orchestra. Besides being an excellent opportunity for students to grow as musicians, performing with students from many different schools allowed the musicians to get to know others they would have otherwise never met. There were talented musicians from over 50 schools across California participating in this years CODA ensemble.“There were a lot of other people from different schools and it was great to meet them, but I wish there was more time to talk with them since we are always practicing together,” CODA Symphony Orchestra member Shoshanah Israilevich (’20) said.The CODA orchestra program is one that continues to peak interest from high achieving musicians from California each year, and shows off the vast amount of talented musicians that take part in the program every year.