The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

The Student News Site of Monta Vista High School

El Estoque

Senior William Zhang is a composer who has written two pieces for the MV Chamber Orchestra at concerts.

The will for music

Giljoon Lee and Lillian Wang March 6, 2024

The track begins with thunderous drums and a tense, repeating musical phrase, called a motif, that evokes the sounds of bombs dropping. Ten seconds in, the instrumentation launches into chaos — electric...

Instrumental Music Director John Gilchrist takes a pause in directing the orchestra during its 2023 Winter Concert, “Forces of Nature.”

Striking the high note

Alyssa Yang and Benjamin Zhang January 27, 2024
John Gilchrist wins the Richard L. Levin Orchestra Educator Award
Liu played a solo at the California Youth Symphony Season Finale concert, playing “Vieuxtemps Violin Concerto No. 5” on May 7, 2023 at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center. Photo Credits: Photo courtesy of Erica Liu

Exploring senior Erica Liu’s journey as a violinist

Eshika Tiwari May 24, 2023

Eshika Tiwari · Exploring senior Erica Liu’s Journey as a violinist ET: Hi, everyone, my name is Eshika Tiwari, and today I'll be featuring Erica Liu about her experience as a violinist. Liu has...

Passing Proposition 28

Passing Proposition 28

Aidan Ruan and Sophia Ma December 23, 2022

California Proposition 28, a measure designated to allocate funding for art programs across K-12 California public schools, was passed on Nov. 8 with 64.4% of voters in favor. Starting in 2023, the proposition...

Candy Cane Lane: According to Amy Young, this song, sang at choir’s Winter Concert on Dec. 16, was chosen since several students sang it in previous years, and wanted to bring back the songs positive feelings.

Planning performances

Brandon Xu December 20, 2022
Examining how the music department decides what songs to play in concerts
Senior Clay Carson sits among his peers in the California Philharmonic Youth Orchestras performance.

Behind the notes

Megha Mummaneni November 4, 2022

Photo courtesy of Clay Carson | Used with permission Megha Mummaneni · Behind the notes As junior Noah Vin enters the Los Altos church, he sets down his cello case and gets ready to warm up....

String Orchestra students perform symphonies at the Fall Concert which took place Oct 28.

MVHS Band and Orchestra capture Halloween spirit in its Fall Concert

Samika Bhatkar October 31, 2022

The MVHS Band and Orchestra hosted its first concert of the year in the school’s auditorium on Friday, Oct. 28. The Fall Concert titled “Incantations and Dances” was performed by four instrumental...

Sophomore Abha Dash plays the flute during Symphonic Band’s performance. Symphonic Band played two pieces titled “West Highland Sojourn” and “Waltz No. 2” before intermission.

The instrumental music department hosts its annual Festival Concert

Melody Cui and Gauri Manoj February 19, 2022
Band and orchestra perform “From Britain with Love” with a feature from the Brass Ensemble
Senior Claire Yang experiments with different types of art, from charcoal still lifes to digital drawings.

Choosing artistic and hands-on electives

Kalyani Puthenpurayil January 22, 2022
Exploring the creative courses that students take at MVHS
Photo courtesy of California All-State Music Education Conference

MVHS Music Department’s All-State Band and Orchestra members

Aditya Shukla and Devin Gupta February 8, 2021
How All-State band programs are managed through the screen
Senior Elena Chen performs at Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall during the National Youth Orchestra program.

Senior Elena Chen’s cello playing experience

Claire Wen and Tyler Cho March 13, 2020
Senior Elena Chen describes her path to becoming a member of the National Youth Orchestra
Music teacher Jon Fey will leave MVHS on Wednesday, Oct. 29

Music teacher Jon Fey will leave MVHS on Wednesday, Oct. 29

Yifei Wu October 23, 2014

After teaching for 13 years at MVHS, Fey finds a new job at Northgate High School “So you finally cleaned up the library?” The voice belonged to senior Karen Xu, who had been a member in band...

Load More Stories