Tonight at Smoky Hill High School there will be an orchestra concert at 7 p.m. “I am super excited for this orchestra concert,” smoky Hill orchestra student and violinist David Polk said. “We have been practicing for this one ever since the last one back in December.”

Students have been spending the majority of time in class preparing for the concert. “First we start off with tuning which is a regular routine also followed by that we do broken thirds G major D major A major , then we actually get into our music section by section,” said Polk.

“We are performing major works by Haydn and Grieg, a couple of more modern compositions for string orchestra, ‘Ashokan Farewell’ based on an American fiddle tune, and the movie score to ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ Tim Burton’s version,” orchestra teacher Chelsea Peele said.

What many audience member might not know is that it is important that the students do well and meet all expectations because students will be graded. “Students who arrive on time to the performer call, are dressed appropriately in concert dress, who are prepared with their materials, and who stay for the duration of the concert receive full credit for the concert grade.  I grade on a total points scale, not percentages, but concerts represent approximately 1/4 of each student’s final grad,” Peele said

“It is so rewarding to hear how much they have improved between the October and December concert,” Peele said.