Led by Superintendent Gary Woods and music teacher and conductor Rob Folsom, 96 orchestra students and parents spent Spring Break on a performance tour of Washington, D.C. The 6-day, 5-night field trip combined music and education and included stops at almost all the major institutions, museums and landmarks in our nation's capital.

Our students met and collaborated with the students of the Langston Hughes Middle School Orchestras, from Reston, Virginia, and the World Children's Choir, from Annandale, Va. Together they gave an enthusiastically received benefit concert, With One Dream... Rebuilding Hope in Haiti, to raise funds for UNICEF's relief efforts in Haiti on April 8, 2010, at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall in Alexandria, Va.

The tour was organized by Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, the agency that ran the orchestra's successful trip to New York last year.

A detailed account of the trip can be found on our News page. An abbreviated version was published in The San Marino Tribune on April 15.

Click here to view the concert program. Part of the concert is on our Video page.

A big thank you to all the chaperones and parents who helped make this a safe trip for our kids!

An appreciative audience at the Kenneth White Auditorium at Huntington Middle School enjoyed an engrossing Spring Concert by the HMS Orchestras led by Rob Folsom on Friday, March 19. The program included the usual suspects - Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi - plus works by Stravinsky and Johann Strauss as well as a beautiful arrangement of Ave Maria. The Chamber Orchestra also delivered a spirited performance of Leroy Anderson's Fiddle-Faddle. The concert was accompanied by a wonderful exhibit of student artwork organized by HMS art teacher Michelle Macedo.

Click here to view the concert on YouTube, thanks to SMHS student Jonathan Sheu.

Many thanks to all the dedicated parent volunteers who helped organize this concert!

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

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.

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.

San Marino School Superintendent Dr. Gary Woods, orchestra conductor Rob Folsom and more than 60 parents and students showed up for an afternoon of food, fun and games at our annual Orchestra Family Potluck Picnic at Lacy Park on Sunday, March 21.  Mr. Folsom also introduced the chaperones for our upcoming trip to Washington, D.C.

Congratulations to the winners of the annual Descriptive Writing Contest organized by the Huntington Orchestra with the English Department!  Dr. Gary McGuigan presented the prizes to the winning students at our March 19 Spring Concert. First Prize (iPod Touch) went to Lydia Ong for her essay "Holiday Concert Lifted My Spirits," and Second Prize (iPod Nano) to Tasha Nam for "A Night of Magic." Honorable mentions (gift certificates) were awarded to Bahar Asghari, Yujane Chen, Lauren Dietzel, Matt Dietzel, Mark Liang, Rachel Linton, Sarah Linton, Austin Wang, Sarah Wu, and Wyatt Wu

Many orchestra students wrote to First Lady Michelle Obama in support of our application to perform at the White House. Although our efforts were not successful, we received a nice letter from Mrs. Obama.

This year our Advanced Orchestra players were treated to two master classes conducted by violin virtuosi Sid Page, who has performed music for many movies, and Bruce Dukov, the longtime concertmaster of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra

A full house was on hand to enjoy the orchestra's lively performance of popular tunes from China, Finland, Iran, Ireland and Spain as well as American favorites at our December 11 Holiday Concert, Music From Around the World, at Huntington Middle School.

Click here to view the performance on YouTube.

Click here for pictures.

The 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.

Dale Breidenthal, of the L.A. Philarmonic, received an appreciation plaque and much applause for her years of volunteer teaching with the orchestra.

The lively concert ended with a well-deserved, prolonged standing ovation.

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.

www.hehms.us

Mr. David P. Murray, Principal

Dr. Bill McDaniel, Music Chair

Rob Folsom, Orchestra Conductor