Showcasing the Best of SOGO
February/March 2024 Vol. 24 No.3
A colleague of mine recently remarked that, “things seem to be moving at a much quicker pace in all facets of the world.” While that has certainly been the case for SOGO in the past few years, the increasing complexity is for all the right reasons. When I arrived in 2018, our enrollment stood at 95 students across three orchestras. Today, at time of writing, membership has hit 167, with each of the orchestras topping 50. Those 167 students come from 45 schools in 13 districts across four counties. Our upcoming concert on March 3rd will showcase the very best of what SOGO offers this increasingly diverse body of young musicians.
After the usual opening fanfare by the Brass Choir (in this case, a brand-new piece, BrassTastico, by SOGO’s court composer Mark Thome), the Debut Orchestra will take the stage under the direction of Mr. Dan Craig. Regular audience members will be impressed by the way Debut now fills the stage, both in size and in sound. Debut will present music by Bizet, Mozart, and Johann Strauss, and local music educator Lisa Pearson from Bush Middle School in Tumwater School District will guest-conduct one of the pieces. After the Brass Choir comes back to perform two additional beautiful selections, the Academy Orchestra and Greg Allison will round out the first half with a varied program, some of which was featured the week before on SOGO’s annual Academy Runout Tour, which included two performances at the historic 7th Street Theater in Hoquiam.
The second half of the concert features the Conservatory Orchestra, who will perform three exciting pieces as well. The first one, Huapango, was composed in 1941 by José Pablo Moncayo. The title refers to a genre of Mexican music and dance styles, and this piece will certainly make you want to get up and dance! Last year, we ended the season with Danzón No. 2 by Arturo Márquez, and the students really enjoyed it, so I decided to include a piece by another great Mexican composer this season.
After Huapango, we will give the first-ever performance of a new orchestration of Debussy’s The Sunken Cathedral, completed by SOGO senior Cade McBride. This is one of my personal favorite Debussy compositions, and to be able to premiere an arrangement by a current student adds an extra special layer to the occasion. And finally, we close with the fourth movement of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8. This fiery finale showcases many different instruments of the orchestra, especially the trumpet and cello sections, and contains a major flute solo that all five of our talented flutists had to learn and audition for. The Dvorak has come together surprisingly quickly and will bring the concert to a suitably exciting conclusion.