Orchestra members showcase dedication at Union College Music Festival

The Campion Academy Orchestra traveled up to the Union College Music Festival to expand their musical talents and perform with other top student musicians from across the Mid-America Union. 

Led by Campion Music Director Cecilia Simmons, 19 students were representing Campion Academy at the festival from Wednesday, January 31 to Saturday, February 3. Over half of the Campion students were first-time festival attendees.

According to Simmons, Campion’s Orchestra received high praise from the clinicians and section leaders for their hard work and dedication to their performances. 

Simmons elaborated; “Sarah (sophomore, trumpet) and Leo (junior, oboe) both earned solos on one of the festival band selections. Jack (junior, violin) was named concertmaster for the festival orchestra and Ariana (sophomore, violin) was named principal for the second violins. In the neverending competition between siblings Caleb (senior, euphonium) and Addison (sophomore, trombone), Caleb won at least one round by being the only euphonium player at the festival.”

The students commented that they enjoyed learning new music and the chance to travel and spend time with friends. 

Toby Quillin (junior, saxophone) shared, “I had a lot of fun at Music Fest both playing my instrument and spending time with friends as well as meeting new friends. I learned a lot about playing the saxophone especially when they brought in a teacher from Lincoln University and taught us more about how to play our instrument”.

Elizabeth Shannon (senior, trombone) shared similar sentiments saying; “I think I learned how to play my part of the music a lot better and how to sight read better. I liked hearing the progress we made from practice to performance. I realized that Campion has a lot of talented people! And my favorite part was probably just walking around the city and hanging out when we were on breaks.” 

After three full days of practice, the students showcased their work at performances on Friday evening and Saturday evening. Videos of the performances can be found on Union College’s youtube channel. 

Simmons explained, “One of the program highlights was getting to hear both the festival band and orchestra join together on a thrilling piece entitled ‘Resurgences.’ It was the perfect end to an incredible week of music making and camaraderie.” 

Pedro Vieira, Student News Team