Walking into the Chapel on Friday night, I can honestly say that I was not excited to be attending an Orchestra Concert at the start of my weekend. Some miserable flashes of my childhood came back to me—the ones where my parents used to drag me off to the Boston Pops in order to “expose me to true art as early as possible.” Let’s just say it had been a while since I sat in the audience of a classical music concert. Though I did find it a tad bit difficult to endure the music in an uncomfortable wooden pew for two hours, I can say that I was thoroughly impressed with the talent of a few select members of Phillips Academy’s music program. And, the roughly eighty people in attendance seemed to agree with me. The concert started off with Heitor Villa-Lobos’ “Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for Solo Voice / 8 Solo Celli.” This piece, as its name implies, called for only cellos and one incredible vocalist, Carrie St. Louis. The piece’s challenging high notes and demand for a strong vocal range did not sway St. Louis once throughout the song. Her performance was the first striking example of musical talent that jumped out and grabbed the audience’s attention. A few more songs followed that were pleasant to listen to and fairly mellow. One of these songs was “Nocturne from String Quartet No. 2 in D Major” played by Phillips Academy’s Amadeus Ensemble. Hannah Lee ’10, an Orchestra member, said, “I really liked Amadeus’ piece. It definitely brings back a lot of memories from my childhood. It was a song from a tape my mom played for me when I’d go to sleep.” This was the last song before the intermission. The show then reconvened with an awards ceremony, giving plaques and certificates to those members of the PA community who devoted time and energy to succeeding in the music department. Lucy McGuire ’08, Max Meyer ’08, John Heroy ’08 and Kaitlin Picard ’08 were just a few of the award recipients. However, many were surprised when Heroy ’08 was not in attendance to receive his awards. The head director the orchestra, James Orent, explained that John Heroy was preparing himself for a concerto. The second half of the concert began with Tchaikovsky’s “Rococo Variations Op. 33,” in which John Heroy ’08 graced the stage and the ears of the attendees with his cello solo. Heroy played this challenging solo throughout the whole song, which ended up lasting around 15-20 minutes, without any music. He had completely memorized the piece, and I was left speechless at the song’s conclusion. Never before had I been so impressed by the musical talent of a PA student. Zahra Bhaiwala ’10 said, “I came here for Music 200 credit and left with that, as well as an incredible amount of respect for John Heroy. I wish I could play an instrument like that!” The concert continued with some more incredible performances, including a viola solo by Picard. However, my attention could not be drawn away from the thoughts of Heroy’s complete mastery of his instrument and musical piece.
