Concert and Symphonic Orchestra held their annual Movie Musical concert in the Performing Arts Center (PAC) Thursday Feb.15. The concert featured orchestral music from different popular musicals such as “LaLa Land,” “Wicked,” “My Fair Lady,” “High School Musical,” “Evita” and “Phantom of the Opera”. 

The concert began with a “LaLa Land” quartet arranged by senior Nathan Soo and performed by Suki Hsu, Simona Hung, Sophie Lu and Nathan Soo. This piece was arranged and performed so beautifully that I could hear the lyrics to these popular songs in my head as they played. This piece honestly deserved to be the finale, as throughout the concert my mind kept wandering back to the Oscar-winning 2016 musical. The absolute talent that radiated off the stage from these four young musicians was indescribable. 

Each musical was also paired with movie clips that were projected above the orchestra for the audience to see, which helped to enhance the experience. Many of the clips were blurry and made up of compilations of different musical and movie versions which took away from the intended effect of the clips. 

Each song also featured multiple different soloists; their last piece “Phantom of the Opera” featured junior Emily Wong on the harp as a soloist. She is also the only harpist in the Symphonic Orchestra. 

“It’s kind of hard [to perform a solo] since I am the only harpist and cannot rely on anyone. I don’t have a section or anything, but I can kind of rely on the piano,” Wong said.  “I was nervous, especially because it is kind of hard to see the conductor in the dark, but it was fun. I prefer the movie concert because it has songs that I know and are popular.” 

The Movie Musical concert is the last orchestra-only concert of the school year, so it holds a special place in the hearts of the graduating seniors. 

“I was a bit nervous to play my solo but it was a great opportunity to play with the orchestra. I felt like it was my last chance to just do my best and enjoy this moment as it’s my senior year, and I want to make the most out of it,” senior bassoonist Ryan Fue said. 

This concert is definitely one of my favorite Walnut Orchestra concerts to attend, and I highly recommend that next winter you make an effort to attend their annual Movie Musical concert. In addition to quartets and soloists, the concert featured numerous different duets. 

“I had a duet with Dory [Kawauchi]; it was for “My Fair Lady” and it was pretty fun. I like doing a solo with Dory because then there is not as much pressure when it’s just a solo by yourself,” junior Surya Donath said. “This is the first time we’ve done a concert where the whole time it’s songs, in the past some of it has been the soundtrack for movies and sometimes it’s been songs. My favorite was definitely “Phantom of the Opera”, it was super exciting.”