The Washburn Rural zero and first hour orchestras attended the Wichita State University Orchestra Festival Invitational on April 9, and the State Music Festival at Lawrence High School on April 11. Both orchestras performed at each location. The orchestra groups received scores from judges at each competition against other schools. Sophomore Molli Christensen attended the Lawrence competition. She enjoyed increasing her skills and getting to know her classmates better.

“I really liked the rides to and from Lawrence with the group. I got to know people better and it was super fun,” Christensen said. “I have gotten better at vibrato this year and playing with more emotion and with the group. I learned that playing with other people isn’t always easy, but when we collaborate it always turns out fine.”

Junior Madelaine Fincher plays cello in first hour orchestra. She loves how close everyone has become through rehearsals and trips.

“I learned the importance [of] doing different techniques, like vibrato, when it comes to ratings at contests,” Fincher said. “I have improved a bunch in shifting and I am overall a lot more familiar with my instrument.”

Freshman Daniel Hashmi plays the cello in first hour orchestra.

“[My] musical instincts are better,” Hashmi said. “[I] can recognize intervals.”

Christensen says they prepared for the competitions by working hard every day to learn the music in class, as well as individually practicing. She says the event at Lawrence was run very well.

“They did an amazing job coordinating the event. It all seemed really organized and all the people running it were very helpful and nice,” Christensen said.

The first hour orchestra played two music pieces, Olympiad by Paul Whear and Rhosymedre by Vaughan Williams.

“I thought the selection of music was good in terms of variety, with Olympiad being a faster piece, [and] Rhosymedre being slower,” Fincher said.

Christensen also liked the music selections for this competition. She says they had a few issues in Rhosymedre with tempo and pacing, but they played the different parts in Olympiad well.

“I really liked playing Olympiad and Rhosymedre. I think we did a really good job on these songs. It was fairly difficult to master these songs but Ohse did a really good job conducting,” Christensen said. “I think it was a really good last round for Ohse since he is retiring at the end of this year.”