Moorhead High orchestra plays Disney World
April 29, 2015
When Moorhead High School senior Amie Schulz started orchestra as a fifth grader, she always dreamed of playing her violin at Disney World. Seven years later, the same dream that Schulz and many of her classmates had finally became a reality.
Schulz said performing at Disney World was a dream come true and that it lives up to its name: “The Happiest Place on Earth.”
“It really is the place where dreams come true,” Schulz said. “You’re at home when you’re there.”
During spring break, the Moorhead High Symphony and Chamber Orchestras traveled to Florida to perform with Festival Disney. There were 81 students and 13 adult chaperones who took part in this week-long trip.
Festival Disney is the only music festival in the nation accredited by the National Association for Music Education. There were 43 different school groups from around the country taking part in the festival.
The combined orchestra from Moorhead performed three pieces that they had been working on since January for the judges. At an award ceremony after the performance, the Moorhead High orchestra received an excellent rating, along with the “Best in Class” award. They returned home with two trophies.
“I was very pleased with the students’ performance,” said orchestra director Jon Larson. “They made impressions with the judges in both their sound and their appearance.”
The Moorhead High orchestra program has been around since 1928, making it one of the oldest high school orchestra programs in the state. There are four different orchestras in the school that students can join. The top two orchestras, Symphony and Chamber, travel every two years to different parts of the country to perform.
“Disney and orchestra are my two favorite things,” Schulz said. “Mix them together, and it was the best of both worlds.”
Besides performing in a music contest while in Florida, the students also spent five days at Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort.
Schulz mentioned that it was the best school trip she has ever been on. “Orchestra and friends make it better.”
Larson agrees. “The orchestra students were awesome from beginning to end,” he said. “It was a delightful experience.”
– By
Makayla Schulz, The Spud
This article was originally published in the March 2015 issue of The Spud.
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