Huntington Middle School Orchestra
Huntington Middle School Orchestra
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Welcome to the award-winning Huntington Middle School Orchestra from San Marino, California!
Huntington Orchestra Performs at Carnegie Hall
On Friday, April 10, 2009, the HMS Advanced Orchestra led by Rob Folsom performed Vaughan Williams's English Folk Song Suite and Bach's Concerto For Two Violins at Carnegie Hall to enthusiastic and prolonged applause. We were one of only two middle schools among the some 20 high school orchestras and symphonic bands invited to participate in this year's National Band and Orchestra Festival in New York.
Read the whole story here.
Listen to the performance here.
See photos from the trip here.
Check the program here.
A huge THANK YOU to all the dedicated chaperones who ensured the safety and well-being of our 43 middle schoolers throughout this trip!
Intermediate Orchestra
A Most Enjoyable Spring Concert
See concert pictures here.
The Huntington Orchestras delivered a beautiful Spring Concert to a capacity audience of relatives, friends and retirees at the HMS Auditorium on March 20. Led by Rob Folsom, the 17-member Intermediate Orchestra performed Fantasia For Strings, the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 , and the Appalachian Suite.
Mr. Folsom then conducted the 44-member Advanced Orchestra in a program of Beethoven, Bach, and Vaughan Williams as well as an original arrangement of David Foster's popular song, The Prayer. The highlights included Bach's Concerto For Two Violins, featuring soloists Olivia Breidenthal and Anya Kwan, and a spirited performance of Vaughan Williams's English Folk Song Suite, which the orchestra will perform next month at Carnegie Hall.
Some 52 parent volunteers helped with the preparations, decorations, refreshments, exhibits, booths, and staffing for the concert!
Click on the above links to view the concert performance on YouTube, thanks to HMS student Jonathan Sheu.
Standing Room Only Holiday Concert
See concert pictures here. 
Our annual Holiday Concert on December 12 was standing room only, as parents, friends and students packed the Kenneth White Auditorium at Huntington Middle School. Under Rob Folsom's direction, the advanced and chamber orchestras sounded great as they performed works by Dvorak, Mozart, Schubert, Albinoni, Boyce, and Ernest Bloch with brio and confidence. The intermediate orchestra also performed holiday classics to much applause.
You can view the performance on You Tube videos posted by Jonathan Sheu by clicking on a composer's name above. Click here if you want to check the program.
Click here to download HMSO favorites to your iPod or computer.
A Night Under the Stars
Our 2007-2008 season ended with A Night Under the Stars, an open air concert at Huntington School on June 6. The orchestra performed a program of Holst, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Rossini, and Haydn before a large and enthusiastic audience. Click on a composer's name to view the performance on YouTube.
Support Our Orchestra
Our generous donors and sponsors help strengthen our orchestra program. The money is used to purchase instruments and equipment for our students, provide scholarships, and pay for part-time violin and cello teachers to enhance music instruction. Click here if you wish to make a donation and here if you wish to place an advertisement in our concert programs.
Holiday Concert on December 11
Join us for our Holiday Concert on Friday, December 11 at 7:00 p.m. at the Kenneth White Auditorium at Huntington Middle School. This year's theme is Music From Around the World, with the orchestra performing tunes from China, Finland, Iran, Ireland and Spain as well as American favorites. Enjoy food from around the world after the concert!
Performance Tour to Washington, D.C.
The HMS Orchestra will spend Spring Break in Washington, D.C. in a field trip combining music and education. The 6-day, 5-night trip from April 4-9, 2010 will include tours of the White House and Congress as well as many landmarks and historic sites and may culminate in a concert performance at the White House or the U.S. Senate. The trip is being organized byFriendship Ambassadors Foundation, the travel agency that ran our successful Carnegie Hall trip.
Over 87 students and parents have already signed up for the trip. Although only the Advanced Orchestra will perform, Intermediate Orchestra members are welcome to join the trip.
Check the Calendar page for the schedule and payment deadlines. If you have any questions, please contact Orchestra Club Chairs Vanessa Koo and Apple Hengky.
"Farewell" Concert on Friday, June 5
The award winning Huntington Middle School Orchestras gave their final performance of the school year on the evening of June 5 to an appreciative audience of friends and parents in the Huntington School Cafeteria. The concert had to be moved indoors at the last minute because of impending rain. Featuring works ranging from Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony to the popular themes of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” the diverse program was also a farewell to the graduating eighth-grade students. Mr. Folsom gave funny and touching reminiscences about each of the graduating students, and the Advanced Orchestra members received certificates from the National Band and Orchestra Festival for their spirited Spring performance at Carnegie Hall. The lively concert ended with a well-deserved, prolonged standing ovation.
Lacy Park Picnic
Many thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Folsom and to all the families who came to our potluck picnic at Lacy Park on Sunday, March 29. It was a lot of fun!
Click here for more pictures.
Descriptive Writing Contest Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the HMS English Department writing contest sponsored by the HMS Orchestra!
First Prize (iPod Classic) was awarded to Chloe Wu and Second Prize (iPod Nano) to Ruyi Cheng. Honorable Mentions were earned by Abby Shamray, Angela Deng, Angela Bai, Sarah Oh, Jackson Wang, Jonathan Sheu, Sean Yuan, Mark Liang, Elizabeth Ogawa and Sarah Wu.
All of them received certificates of achievement from Mr. Folsom at our March 20 concert.
First Place at Anaheim Heritage Music Festival
The excellence of our orchestra has been recognized by an invitation to perform at the 2009 National Band and Orchestra Festival at Carnegie Hall, New York, after the orchestra took First Place at the 2008 Anaheim Heritage Music Festival.
Read all about it here.
Henry E. Huntington Middle School
Dr. Gary McGuigan, Principal
Dr. Bill McDaniel, Music Chair
Rob Folsom, Orchestra Conductor
Huntington Middle School Orchestra
