As members of the MVHS Chamber Orchestra take their spots onstage under the bright lights of the California All-State Music Education Conference, sophomore and second violinist Tara Brumand feels a twinge of nervousness. All of the work and preparation the group has been putting in since the beginning of the school year has led up to this performance. As they begin to play Igor Stravinsky’s “Concerto in D,” Brumand lets her nervous energy carry her through the set. She concentrates on the details of each and every piece, intent on performing exactly as she had practiced, while also letting herself enjoy the moment.
Occasionally, Brumand steals moments to glance at the music teachers and adults in the audience watching with rapt attention, taking in the performance. When the music comes to an end, Brumand and the Chamber Orchestra feel a sense of satisfaction and gratitude for the opportunity to perform among such talented musicians.
CASMEC is an annual music conference that brings together distinguished music educators and talented young musicians. This year’s conference ran from Jan. 15 to 19 in Sacramento, with the Chamber Orchestra performing on Friday, Jan. 17.
This was the first time an MVHS orchestra had been invited to perform at a CASMEC conference. However, junior and cellist Elspeth Luu, who was also accepted to and performed with the All-State High School Symphony Orchestra at CASMEC this year, had also attended CASMEC in eighth grade, remembering it as a transformative experience due to the people she met. This year, she enjoyed not only playing with familiar faces but also meeting other talented and passionate youth musicians.
“You get to meet players from all over the state, and they’re all really dedicated players who love music and love their instrument,” Luu said. “It’s great to see people from different backgrounds just enjoying and getting to play music together.”
Likewise, Brumand recalls first arriving at the conference and walking past other groups rehearsing. Watching them all write notes from their conductors down, she felt motivated by their dedication and commitment to their ensembles. She was also surprised at the over 7,000 people attending the conference.
“There were so many students, lines and lines everywhere, and there were also a lot of guest adults, like esteemed music teachers and famous musicians,” Brumand said. “It was really cool to see them being involved with the rehearsal process. It was just really inspiring to see that there are so many talented musicians just in our little section of California.”
While CASMEC allows student musicians to showcase their talent, it also provides music directors with the opportunity to learn from fellow educators. With this in mind, instrumental music director John Gilchrist put together a series of pieces, including Tchaikovsky’s “Souvenir de Florence” and Kevin Day’s “Solace in the Wind,” that spanned a wide range of skill levels from beginning orchestra-level to professional-level music. Gilchrist focused on showcasing the talent of his musicians while also making it attainable for other educators to recreate.
“We do that so that we can showcase a variety of different skill levels for the audience, which is mainly educators, so they can listen to the music and say, ‘Oh, hey, this is really great. I would love to play this with my orchestra back home,’” Gilchrist said. “If we just did super, super high-level music, it would be really hard to prepare, but it would also seem inaccessible to a lot of other music educators.”
However, the group agrees that their main highlight from the performance was performing with guest musician and guitarist Yvette Young, who wrote the work “Three Pieces for Electric Guitar and Strings.” Originally from the Bay Area, Young started playing violin in an orchestra before transitioning to guitar. Brumand recalls how willing Young was to share her musical journey — many members of the orchestra related to her struggles and evolution as a musician, looking up to her as an inspiration.
“Yvette Young is such a down-to-earth, humble person,” Brumand said. “She’s so, so talented. Working with her was kind of like making a new friend. I feel like she was so willing to share about herself, and she was so sweet. She kept telling us how great we sounded, and we’re like, ‘The real talent in the room is you.’”
Gilchrist agrees, adding that he felt added pressure to ensure the orchestra was able to play her piece with her at an “acceptable level,” as they only had one rehearsal with Young the night before their performance. However, his anxieties were assuaged when they played together and she praised the group, pleased by their performance.
“It was a big weight off of my shoulders,” Gilchrist said. “Sometimes, when you play with a musician that’s that great, you don’t even really have to worry about it. Everything comes naturally and falls into place. That’s kind of how it felt.”
The natural feeling during their practice carried into their performance and extinguished the nerves Brumand had felt coming into the performance. As they played and found their rhythm, Brumand said the group shared a feeling of unity that allowed the orchestra to appreciate the value of the moment. While performing, Luu reflected on all the work and effort put into crafting their performance.
“Sometimes when you’re on stage and you perform, it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s what we’ve worked so hard for,’” Luu said. “You work really hard in class, but now you get to share it with all the people who are in the audience. And even though sometimes it doesn’t always go the way you wanted it to, just getting to share that and all your hard work is really rewarding.”
Gilchrist agrees with Luu, adding that at a certain point in the set, he just became lost in the music — to him, it was no longer only about performing the music educators, but having fun together, something he hoped his students felt as well.
“This is such a special and unique moment, I mean, this is the first time that MVHS has been recognized to play at the All-State conference,” Gilchrist said. “It really does showcase the incredible dedication and talent of the students at MVHS. I’m super proud of them for achieving this.”
