On Saturday, April 9, 2022, the Stevens Orchestra performed their spring concert, “Mostly Baroque,” in DeBaun Auditorium. With their winter concert having no audience and being recorded instead, this is the Stevens Orchestra’s first in-person, live concert since pre-COVID-19.
Freshman Violin two player Erin McGee said, “I loved getting to play with a group in person again, for a real audience. It was something I didn’t realize I took for granted until we lost it to COVID. Music was one of the many things that many of us underclassmen lost in high school. It’s been such a privilege to be able to continue playing in college with such a great group of people.”
Conducted by Orchestra Director Steven Rochen, this concert presented a mix of different styles to the audience. As the title suggests, the concert mostly consisted of Baroque music, along with pieces from other historical music types and styles. With a large mix of players, this orchestra was able to have choirs of different instruments, including a four-person Trombone Choir, a nine-person Viola Choir, and a seven-person Cello Choir. The other instruments included violin (one and two), bass, flute, clarinet, and oboe. It is evident that these 39 students put in much time and effort to make this night a success.
This spring concert marked the end of many member’s journeys, as the Stevens Orchestra is saying goodbye to the following seniors: Violin two – Matthew De La Paz, Trombone – Mac Collins and Joey Rupert, Cello – Garrett Horwath, Bass – Grant Simmons and Arik Odre, Flute – Jennifer Searing, Milena Sudarikov, and Twinkle Gupta, and Clarinet – Brittany Seelman.
From the strong introduction piece, Prelude from Te Deum, performed by the full orchestra, the concert moved into a violin duo, Allegro, from Sonata VI in D for two violins, performed by Carter Rosen and Amélie Ratliff. Then, the Trombone Choir performed a piece written by the more contemporary composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, leading into the sounds of a more early style of music. The full orchestra then proceeded to play a piece by Ottorino Respighi, followed by the Viola Choir playing a haunting sarabande, which featured string sounds from a famous piece known as the Bach. The longest piece of the night came from Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, featuring the violin duo, Carter Rosen and Amélie Ratliff once again. This piece was in three movements, which Rochen described during the show as “one fast, one slow, and one zippy”. This was followed by the Cello Choir playing a beautiful pavane piece. The final song of the night was a jazz piece known as Take Five, which encaptivated the energy of the entire show.
You can follow the Stevens Orchestra on Instagram, @sitorchestra.
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