BHS Musical Ensembles Play With Cleveland Orchestra for Auditorium Opening

The renovated auditorium saw its first event on the evening of Nov. 5. The BHS Orchestra performed with the Cleveland Orchestra along with the choir and some of the band.

Instrumental music teachers Lisa Goldman and Noel DeViney worked with the students in a series of rigorous rehearsals. Choir Director Darlene Haight had 9 students sing alongside the Cleveland Orchestra. 7 band students, led by Band Director David Luddington, in both a Brass Trio and Woodwind Quartet, performed with the Cleveland Orchestra as well.

“I started working with the kids immediately when school started,” Goldman said. “My assistant Noel DeViney and I split the class so that I peeled off those kids who would be performing and worked in another room…I had extra rehearsals twice a week for the two to three weeks leading up to it, and each rehearsal was about an hour long.”

Goldman said students who were not able to commit time to rehearsals were not forced to perform.

“The students were told ahead of time that this would be something above and beyond,” she said. “… If students felt they did not have the time, they could be excused.”

A slightly reduced Cleveland Orchestra joined 39 students. They played pieces that utilized the available musicians.

First the BHS musical ensembles performed a series of pieces including works by Vivaldi, Bach and Mendelssohn. After intermission, the Cleveland Orchestra played works by John Williams, Beethoven and Michael Dougherty. At the end of the evening, the two orchestras joined together to perform Ravel’s Boléro as a finale.

The students had the opportunity to practice not only with Cleveland Orchestra musicians, but also had a special rehearsal with just Beachwood students under the leadership of Cleveland Orchestra conductor Brett Mitchell.

“The conductor came in [about] two weeks out and worked with just the 39 kids,” Goldman said.

Senior Amanda Wasserman, who played violin, said the conductor had a special way of getting across his musical directions to the students.

“The way the conductor was able to communicate with us and get us to do what he wanted us to do was amazing,” she said. “It was almost like he was talking to us and not telling us what to do. He would say ‘I want it to sound like this’ and not just ‘do this’.”

Wasserman also found it very educational to play alongside the world famous orchestra.

“I think it was really interesting to see what we’re doing for fun and for class being translated into something someone is doing professionally,” she said.

Wasserman said she doesn’t want to make a career out of music, but she does want to keep playing.

“It wasn’t terribly stressful playing with the Cleveland Orchestra,” Wasserman said. “It was more stressful playing by ourselves because when you’re playing with the Cleveland Orchestra you know it’s going to sound good… They’re so good that no matter what you do, it’s going to sound good.”

Senior Shitong Wu, who played first chair viola, said playing with the orchestra on the night of the event was cathartic.

“It was freeing because we’ve worked so much and now we get to express it to everybody,” he said.

“My stand partner was very cognizant of the little details within the music,” Wu said. “He knew the style very well, and he gave pretty good advice on the phrasing and how to modulate the bow.”

Freshman Abigail Adams also learned a lot from working with her stand partner, Mark Atherton.

“My stand partner was really cool,” she wrote in an email. “He’s been in the orchestra for 30 years.”

“It’s great to play with people who are better than you,” said senior Cameron Haynesworth, who played first cello, “…because you get to see what you’re missing out on.”

Wu wants to minor in music in college. Both Haynesworth and Wu hope to join an orchestra in college.

Adams, who played the double bass during the event, also wants to continue her musical career in college.

“I’m not sure if I would major in music,” she wrote. “But I would love to play in a college orchestra.”

“This is a once in a lifetime kind of event,” Goldman said. “The Cleveland Orchestra is a world class organization. It was both an honor and a privilege to host them; it was both an honor and a privilege to have them work with our students; and it was both an honor and a privilege to be on stage with them.”