Starting in late September, the Chap orchestra and band have been rehearsing for the 20th annual “Nutcracker Spectacular”.
In order to participate in the show, orchestra and band students are required to pass different measures to be able to perform. For orchestra, students in the Symphony and Philharmonic classes are required to take part in the “Nutcracker Spectacular”. On the other hand, band members that wish to partake have to sign up and then be chosen by the band directors.
”They choose the people to do it by seniority,” freshman oboe Lucy Harmon said. “So seniors get priority over juniors, sophomores and freshmen. That’s why there’s not many freshmen.”
Students who perform in the show then have to learn and refine all 20 pieces of the “Nutcracker”, which is roughly around two full hours of music, throughout the months of November and October.
“The hardest part is probably learning the music initially,” senior violinist Miranda Xu said. “Once you learn the music, you can add [your] own twist [and] have more fun with it.”
Rehearsals took place every Tuesday after school, lasting 2 hours. Most weeks were full rehearsals with both the orchestra and band, however some were only strings/winds rehearsals because of scheduling conflicts.
“In our normal rehearsal, we’ll treat it like class,” orchestra director Josue Martinez said. “We’ll work on something [and] I might stop [to] fix a measure or a phrase.”
Apart from the after school rehearsals, the orchestra rehearses some days during their class period. Band members, due to differences in schedules, are unable to do so.
During the week of the “Nutcracker”, students also have to attend five hour tech rehearsals. These rehearsals include orchestra, band, dancers and tech theatre. During these rehearsals, music students spend four out of the five hours inside the pit, which is the small space beneath the PAC stage.
“The five hour rehearsals are very difficult, and they definitely take it out of you,” senior harpist Sabrina Sprangle said. “[They] are difficult because you have to spend a long time in the pit [with] limited light and limited cell service.”
Besides the “Nutcracker”, the fall semester is a busy time for both band and orchestra student musicians.
“[“The Nutcracker”] happens during marching season,” freshman tuba Matthew Wise said. “It’s very, very close packed, and there’s a ton of stuff happening.”
In total, 92 student musicians participated in the “Nutcracker” this year.
“[The “Nutcracker Spectacular” is] not professional,” Martinez said. “No, [these are] students. We want student musicians. We want student dancers. We have student technicians that put this humongous project together.”
