College orchestra to open this weekend

Home Culture College orchestra to open this weekend

The Hillsdale College Orchestra is welcoming parents to campus this weekend with its symphony orchestra performance in Christ Chapel. 

On Oct. 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. and 2 p.m. respectively, the orchestra will be performing a diverse repertoire encompassing classical and modern pieces, and even movie scores. 

The concert will also feature the Spring 2021 Concerto Competition winner, junior Ethan Tong. Due to an abundance of winners last spring, Tong’s performance was delayed until the fall Parent’s Weekend. He will perform a Hindemith Viola concerto.  

“It doesn’t sound like a standard piece of music by, say, Beethoven or Mozart,” Tong said. “But Hindemith is far from absurdist.” 

Junior Paul Trainor, a cellist in the orchestra, has participated in the ensemble throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and said he finally sees things shifting back to normal in this upcoming concert.

“Some of this music we’ve been working on for a year,” Trainor said. “Because of the pandemic, a couple of concerts have been cancelled and we just didn’t have enough rehearsals last year, so this is our opportunity to finally revive some pieces like the Beethoven overture.”

All parents and families are welcome this parents weekend. The concert run-time will be a little over an hour.

“Many of the students I know in the orchestra were top of their class in terms of skill, which lends to a near professional level of performance,” sophomore trombonist Jacob Carson said.

Tickets are free and can be reserved by calling 517-607-2848 or emailing boxoffice@hillsdale.edu.