Alliance High School

Student Orchestras Perform Spooktacularly

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Ensnaring the audience with suspenseful and tense music that seemed to belong in a horror movie. That seemed to be the goal of the orchestras performing in the annual Strings Spooktacular concert on Oct. 25.

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This is the eleventh year of the popular concert, with performances from both the high school and eighth grade orchestras. Performers were dressed in a wide variety of costumes ranging from an endearing squid to a convincing Sasquatch.

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The concert was widely anticipated by the high school orchestra, where it is “a favorite for many of them,” according to Orchestra Director Ms. Crystal Sabik.

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“I love this concert. You get to dress up and the music just fits the mood,” said Tommy Gress, a junior who plays viola.

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Junior Rhi Phillips said students had been “working really hard” and were “excited to play with the eighth graders.”

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The eighth-grade orchestra opened the event with a rendition of “March of the Shadows” by Brian Balmages, a piece filled with “unexpected harmonies and rhythmic twists,” according to Troy Russell, assistant principal at Alliance Middle School and one of the announcers for the concert.

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The middle school performers continued with “Creatures” by Balmages, a unique song that combines the sounds of the instruments with the rhythmical beats of stomping feet.

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The high school orchestra was then handed the spotlight, beginning with a song inspired by an abandoned amusement park in New Orleans titled “Ghost Carnival” by Erik Morales.

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Next was “Dies Irae: Fantasia” by Deborah Baker Monday, an adapted hymn from the 13th century that means “Day of Wrath.”

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Gress claimed “Dies Irae: Fantasia” was his favorite piece, saying: “I really liked the melodies, and the harmonies were really pretty.”

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That was followed by “Two Scenes from the Hollow” by Kirt Mosier, a two-part piece based on “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

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The high school orchestra was then joined by the eighth graders to play the final song of the evening, “Sneaking Suspicion” by Doug Spata, a playful piece characterized by a “cartoon pick-pluck” style, said Russell.

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As the piece was performed, members of the seventh-grade orchestra walked among the audience, handing out candy.