Green Valley High School cellist Katharine Smith performs with the orchestra in preparation for the upcoming clinic event.

Music in the Windy City air
Clark county orchestras travel to prestigious Chicago clinic

By Olivia Scott and Jennifer Watson,
Green Valley HS

Green Valley High School and Hyde Park Middle School orchestras will soon be performing in front of over 700 teachers and conductors from across the world. Dec. 17-20 they’ll be at the 62nd Annual Midwest Clinic in Evanston, Ill.

With only nine orchestras chosen worldwide, the competition is considered highly prestigious amongst music educators as well as their students. Green Valley was one of four high school orchestras to be selected through a strict audition process.

Geoff Neuman, the director of the Green Valley orchestra, explains that there is a small committee in Chicago that goes through hundreds of applications. They listen intently to the selections sent in and then make their decisions after much consideration.

Green Valley senior Jessica Hsu has been playing the violin for 12 years now.

Zoe Jorgenson performs on bass for the Green Valley High School orchestra.

“As far as music education goes, it does not get any better than this,” says Neuman.

The students in the Green Valley orchestra have been working hard to prepare for such an important conference in order to live up to the expectations their audition brought about.

“It is extremely hard to be chosen for the clinic,” says Michelle Nam, a senior and violinist for the orchestra. “First, Mr. Neuman sent in a recording of a performance in which we had to play at least two pieces. Then the board who decides who will perform will listen to the first minute or so of each of the tapes and if it doesn’t sound good they will just throw it Clark county orchestras travel to prestigious Chicago clinic out. After they’ve done that, they will then look at the video tape of the performance, narrow it down and make the final decisions,” says Nam.

Green Valley’s Advanced Orchestra will perform Dec. 17 and the Hyde Park Chamber Orchestra will perform Dec. 16.

“I’m extremely excited to go to Chicago for this performance because I’ve never been able to experience a big city around Christmas time,” says Nam. “Because I’m a senior, I’m looking forward to making memories with friends I have known in the orchestra for a very long time and hopefully we’ll be able to look back on this in appreciation and with many lasting memories.”

The Midwest Clinic will have attendees and performances from 34 countries across six continents, including students from elementary, junior high and high schools as well as military, college and professional adult orchestras.

According to junior and Green Valley orchestra member Edward Bylina, the Midwest Clinic is often misconstrued as a competition.

“The point of the Midwest Clinic is not to compete. The competition was to be chosen to perform. It is more of a festival -- that is, the largest international orchestral festival in the world. There will even be bands from Russia and Japan,” says Bylina.

Jessica Hsu, a senior at Green Valley, is now in her 12th year of playing the violin. Along with several other students, Hsu believes that Neuman has been more focused lately because the performance is approaching rapidly, but his teaching style has not changed.

“I think he chose great pieces of music to perform. We will be performing 11 different songs, so in that way nothing has changed, but some of the students are working harder because they realize how important of a clinic this is,” says Hsu.

In addition to early bird practices every Wednesday and after-school practices every Monday, the students also have many sectional practices to prepare for the conference.

“The sectional practices are broken down into different groups by instruments and the first chair will run the practice,” says Hsu.

Bylina plays the violin, but made the decision to play the viola solely for the upcoming Midwest Clinic performance. Though he’s never played the viola before, Bylina still volunteered to alternate between the violin and viola during the performance to strengthen the viola section in the orchestra.

“I have to relearn three of the pieces for the viola part, so I have been spending hours every day learning how to play this instrument I have barely even picked up before,” says Bylina. “It is really difficult and will take time, but I am doing [it] in hopes that it will help out the orchestra as a whole.”

Green Valley senior Gabby Catu says that the expenses of the trip were a complication for some students, which led them to fundraising.

“The trip total was $1,100. When we were planning the trip, we found out that it costs $15 to fly luggage there and back, but any extra bags would cost us $50,” says Catu. “All of the cellos are too large to be carryons, so we have to pay the $50 for each 10 cellos. We are going to hold a garage sale to fundraise to pay these fees.”

Along with the 52 students in Advanced Orchestra at Green Valley, orchestra teacher Cecil Myers, band teacher Diane Koutsulis, Greenspun Junior High School band teacher Doug Beasley, Principal Jeff Horn and several parents will travel to Chicago as well.

“A lot of the people traveling with us are going to play a major part in our performance at the clinic,” says Nam. “Mr. Meyers will be narrating ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ Mrs. Koutsulis will be conducting one of the pieces and Mr. Beasley is going to play a solo piece with us. Also, this year we have more parents going than any previous years because it is such an important performance.”

The orchestras will not be working and attending seminars at the clinic the entire time of their stay, however. They will also be touring the cities of Evanston and Chicago.

Green Valley students will attend a performance by the renowned Chicago Orchestra, watch the “Dirty Dancing” Broadway musical, visit the Hancock Museum and go sightseeing in Chicago when not performing or warming up for the performance.

“I am really excited to do all of the other activities, like go to the museum and see the orchestra, but I am most looking forward to the actual performance,” says Bylina. “Middle school directors and high school directors come from all over to attend and we get to play music that has not been published yet. We are almost advertising those pieces and have the opportunity to be a source of inspiration.”

Neuman says that the orchestra will be presenting an hour-long performance at the conference. He believes the students have worked as hard as they have because they realize the magnitude of this specific performance.

“This is extremely important and we should feel proud we’re a part of it,” says Neuman.

The Green Valley High School Advanced Orchestra, under the direction of Geoff Neuman, practice for the Midwest Clinic in UNLV’s Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall.

Photos by David Phillips/CLASS!

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