Orchestra students kick off the WVHS holiday concert series

On Tuesday night, the WVHS Orchestra Winter Concert marked the official start of the WVHS Winter Concert Series. The program of nine songs included holiday themed pieces, two senior features, and a collaborative performance by the high school and eighth grade orchestra. The evening was under the direction of WVHS teacher Ms. Elissa Maynard. 

WVHS Winter Orchestra Concert (Dec. 6, 2022)

“I am beyond proud of the amazing performance the orchestra students gave at the orchestra concert last night,” said Ms. Maynard. “The featured soloists and ensembles all played with such passion and heart, and demonstrated poise and professionalism at the same time.”

View a gallery of images from the performance below this story.

Elizabeth Roberts

The program opened with its first senior feature. The piece, Vuelvo Al Sur composed by Astor Piazzolla, was performed on violin by senior Elizabeth Roberts with Alison Echevarria providing piano accompaniment. Elizabeth has been playing the violin for nearly nine years. She has been a member of the Wire Choir since sixth grade, she’s participated in every NYSSMA festival since fourth grade, and is currently 1st chair of the 2nd violins in the WVHS symphony orchestra. She was recently accepted to play 2nd violin at the 2023 All County Festival, and she is also a violinist in the Hudson Valley Ebony Strings. Elizabeth aspires to go to college in the fall, where she will major in health sciences. She hopes to one day become a doctor. 

Next, the Symphony Orchestra took the stage with its opening number, Fingal’s Rock, composed by Kathryn Greisinger. The piece featured student Joey Rodriguez on drumset. They followed that up with a holiday song entitled Kindle the Hanukkah Lights, composed by Lennie Niehaus. Their final piece was Turning Point, by Robert Longfield, which featured a violin solo by Hanna Ali and piano by Andy Chen. 

Emily Buliung & Liliana King

The second senior feature was performed by a duo of cellists, Emily Buliung and Liliana King. They performed Concerto for Two Cellos & Piano by Vivaldi. Again, Alison Echevarria accompanied on piano. Emily has been playing cello for nine years. She has participated in every NYSSMA Festival since the fourth grade, and was selected for the Senior High All County Orchestra for the third time this year. She has played in Fiddle Frenzy for six years, performing Irish fiddle music throughout the Warwick area, and recently performed in the Zone 9 Area All-State Mixed Choir. Emily plans to study music education and performance in college, so she can spread her love of music to younger generations, just as her teachers have done for her.

View a gallery of images from the performance below this story.

Liliana has been playing the cello for nine years and is currently president of the Chamber Orchestra. She was selected for the Zone 9 Area All-State Symphonic Orchestra twice, has made All County every year since fifth grade, has attended every NYSSMA Festival since fourth grade, and has been a Wire Choir member since fifth grade. Liliana intends to major in communication studies and continue her playing career with recreational orchestras in college.

Dylan Page

The Chamber Orchestra performed next, opening their segment of the evening with a song entitled Drifen, by Shirl Jae Atwell. The song included multiple solos, including violin solos from Hunter Ludovicy (a WVCSD November Artist of the Month), Olivia Nosarzewski, Elizabeth Roberts, and Sydney Stirpe. Zoe Link and Olivia Holland added viola solos, Emily Buliung and Nathan Link cello solos, and a bass solo by Dylan Page. Hunter was a featured soloist again in the second tune, Oblivion, by Astor Piazzolla. Their portion of the program concluded with a rousing musical depiction of the storied Alaskan dog race, a song entitled Iditarod, by Soon Hee Newbold. 

To close our the evening, the high school string players were joined by their middle school counterparts in the eighth grade orchestra. The “Combined Orchestra” played a Bob Phillips arrangement of the holiday classic All I Want for Christmas. The performance featured Joey Rodriguez on percussion and Ben Poka on drumset, with Ellie Pfohl on piano, and included solos by Emily Buliung (cello) and Olivia Nosarzewski (violin).

View a gallery of images from the performance below this story.

“I am blessed to have the opportunity to work with such wonderful students and help them realize their talents,” said Ms. Maynard.

Ms. Maynard and all of the WVHS string students would like to thank the following individuals and groups for their contributions to the success of Tuesday night’s performance. The WVCSD Board of Education, Superintendent Leach, Ms. Cindy Leandro, Ms. Meghan McGourty, Mr. Tim Holmes, Ms. Marguerite Fusco, Mr. Khris Arvenites, Ms. Erin Hill-Lewis, Mr. Chris Fiorentino, and all of the fantastic WVHS teachers and staff. And, to Ms. Brown and Ms. Moser for their help and support.

“And thank you to the parents of our students,” added a beaming Ms. Maynard. “Without your support, we wouldn’t be as great as we are!”  

Please save the dates for more upcoming performances… 

• Pops Concert — February 7 @ 7:00 pm (WVHS)
• Orchestra Spring Concert — May 15 @ 7:00 pm (WVHS)
• WVHS Grammy Awards — May 19 @ 7:00 pm; Red Carpet @ 6:00 pm (WVHS)
• String Fling (Grades 5-12) — June 7 @ 7:00 pm (WVHS)

WVHS Symphony Orchestra Personnel

Violin 1

* Hanna Ali

+ Cavan Byrne

Samantha Brady

Jolene Hernandez

Hermia Yang

Jolie Eugenio

Jayden Myruski

Maeve Sutliff

Sienna Liggio

Ava Browne

Julie Ramos

Francesca Mikos

Andrew Redling

Angelina Nguyen

Violin 2

* Addison O’Donnell

+ Abigail Joan Dunn

Sadie Hankins

Cara Calone

Kira Minogue

Andy Chen

Brooke Kelly

Elli Pfohl 

Viola

* Anastasiya Kuchynska

+ Aleena DiPierro

Jake Tannar

Lilly Burrows

Tristan Sasse

Sophia Amato

Alex Rodiguez

Ayana Montgomery

Josie Black

Eduardo Luna

Amanda Sit

Liam Natale

Clyde Demke

Cello

* Clairice D’Attolico

+ Zachary Brescia

Logan Conley

Gianna Crescimanno

Hailey Foust

Carly Kunisch

Ashlyn West

Jakob Yon

Claudia Demke

Claudia Harris

Kayla Sit

Marios Veloudos

Juely Duran

Grayson Quinn

Bass

* Michael Hansen

+ Maya Neil

* Concertmaster/Principal

+ Assistant Concertmaster/Principal

Chamber Orchestra Personnel

Violin 1

*@^! Hunter Ludovicy 

+! Olivia Nosarzewski

! Charlene Petreshock

! Julyssa Hernandez

! Angelina Nguyen!Dania Barillas

! Zachary Polsky

Grace Conneely-Nolan

! Arielle Seid

Kelly Wendt

Violin 2

*! Elizabeth Roberts

+ Sydney Stirpe

! Andrew Redling

!^ Skylar Rosenblatt

! Elaina Schlesinger

Eva Saucedo

! Grace Cornelius

Erica King

! Reagan Oswald

Ava Cauda

Viola

*!^ Zoe Link

+ Olivia Holland

! Camren West

Victoria Martinez

Lucia Meehan

Savannah Bolick

Conner Price

Lillybeth Kuroz

Cello

*! Emily Buliung

+! Nathan Link

Liliana King

Natalie Evans

Olivia Samberg

! Abagail Foust

Abigail Yurchuk

Josh Cornelius

Bass

*! Dylan Page

+ Talia Hartigan

! Elijah Fiol

! Madison Buliung

* Concertmaster/Principal

+Assistant Concertmaster/Principal

@All State

!Senior High All-County

^Area All State Members

WVMS 8th Grade Orchestra Members

Andy Aruzpe Benitez

Lianna Bacenet

Aliyah Montgomery

Mia Trinceri

Sydney Becker

Anika Brezina

Ashlyn Brown

Isabella Costanza

Nina Cirillo

Cora Colin-Green

Alyssa Cruz

Zoe Ham

Peyton Komorsky

Kurtis Langone

Autumn Levine

Maddie Lijoi

Juliana Masker

Sara Mirza

Madison Murtagh

Logan Nagel

Abigail O’Brien

Olivia Peconie

Neil Pillai

Gabby Romero

Mackenzie Sciarra

Lia Sit

Chris Tyler

Maddie Weldon