Samo students participate in national orchestra

Max GumbelStaff WriterSamo seniors Mayu Isom and Luke Bencivengo, juniors Jonathan Forsander and Yekun Ding and sophomore Justin Sardo flew to Atlanta, GA the weekend of March 24 to participate in the 2012 National High School Honor Orchestra (NHSHO), joining the top high school musicians in the country.According to Ding, a bassist, each of the five originally sent audition tapes to a NHSHO California state chairman, who then relayed the best tapes onto the national level. From there, the national committee picked the strongest players and invited them to participate.Among them, was five Samo students, a number that is large for any music program, but not unusual for Samo. Our strong representation in such honor groups is due in part, according to orchestra director Joni Swenson, to the fostering of music in our community.“We are fortunate that we still have elementary school programs and strong middle school programs that develop musicians to be able to get into NHSHO and [California] All-State. Many music programs in the state are decimated by budget cuts and we are fortunate that [this community] works very hard to support our music programs,” Swenson said.The high selectivity of the group entailed a very high caliber of musicianship among the orchestra members, according to Ding.“I sat next to the most musical people,” Ding said. “Everyone was so sensitive of the nuances in the music. The orchestra members were just so aware of the music and the conductor’s interpretation.”Because of the abundance of strong musicians, Isom said that she was nervous about playing her oboe part as well as she could.“Sometimes it can be intimidating, especially as a wind player, to play everything correctly because your part is so exposed,” Isom said. “You don’t want to let anyone down by making mistakes.”Ding, however, says she faced less of a musical challenge and more of a physical one at NHSHO.“There were two times when I had to carry my bass between the hotel and the theater for rehearsal, and each walk was a mile long with a hill in between,” Ding said. “Not only did I get musically stronger, but I might have gotten physically stronger.”According to Ding, participating in the orchestra was more than just musically enriching.“Besides the many musical aspects of the event that I can’t even describe, my favorite part was making new friends,” Ding said. “I also got to know the other Samo people better and made friends from other states that I have kept in touch with.”Many NHSHO players were impressed by the relatively large representation from Samo.“It’s the greatest feeling when you’re hanging out with everyone from Samo and someone asks, ‘you’re all from the same school?’” Isom said. “It’s a great way to represent our high school.”mgumbel@thesamohi.com