Catch up on the latest with Samo’s band, orchestra, and choir as they travel this spring break

Seattle Tour:

On Thursday, April 13, the Samo Choirs took off to Seattle, Washington to compete in the WorldStrides Heritage Festival. The students spent a total of four days roaming the city, gaining new experiences and most importantly, performing their pieces for the judges. The different choirs — Chamber, Chorale and Madrigals — performed three pieces each. Choir student Egan Waktole (’23) shares the dedication that was put into the performances,

“Preparing for the choir trip took months. We had various different styles of music, some we have never seen before. There was a particular song called Fire, which didn’t follow the traditional rules of music, so that was really hard. We put months of practice and after school, lunch and weekend rehearsals,” Waktole said. 

The students worked very hard on this experience and their efforts showed when Chamber and Chorale won first place with their pieces and Madrigals won second. The trip overall was a great bonding experience for the different choirs and allowed the students to take their music out of state. Choir student Valentina Manco (’24) shares how she feels about the choir’s win and the experience overall. 

“We all worked so hard and gave up so much time to perfect the pieces of music Mr. Huls picked out for us and the fact that we won so many awards shows that our hard work really paid off," Manco said. "We are all so proud and happy of what we have accomplished.” 

Ireland tour:

On April 3, the top orchestra and band levels — Wind Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra — left for Ireland to perform for three different local communities and explore each of the cities they visited. 

The students spent their first two days in Derry, Ireland, arriving on April 6. In Derry, the students were able to explore and do fun activities such as touring the city and getting dinner at a local tavern as well as performing at the Waterside Theater. 

The following day, the students made their way to Belfast and had their main performance at the Waterfront Hall, where they received a standing ovation. Besides performing, the students did other fun activities such as going to St. George’s market, an antique indoor market, and exploring the Belfast Museum. Band student Taj Ford (’23) shares how he felt about the experience.

“It was fun being in a different country with my friends and I loved seeing a completely different culture firsthand,” Ford said.

The students then traveled to Dublin and spent the remainder of their trip visiting an Irish emigration museum and going to a local tavern where they were able to see people performing Irish jigs and Irish music. While in Dublin, the students were also able to work with an Irish composer and officially close the tour with their performance at the Ballyroan Parish Church, where they received their second standing ovation.

The students overall put much time and effort into this tour, as Chamber Orchestra had many after school rehearsals leading up to the trip and Wind Ensemble spent a year's worth of class time rehearsing. This experience was very bonding for the students and allowed them to gain a new experience as a band. Wind Ensemble student Sara Ty (’24) shares how she feels about the tour. 

“Performing in different venues and getting to participate in workshops and exchange concerts was definitely valuable to our musicianship, but I think going on tour and the experience being out of the country as an ensemble was much more memorable and impactful," Ty said. "We had a hard time after coming home and not seeing each other all day everyday."