As March nears, Grosse Pointe South’s Orchestra’s sound of music fills the hallways with the sound of dedication and fine-tuning every note, while preparing for the upcoming state competition. With months of rehearsals filled with rigorous practice and passion for music, students who are in the chamber orchestra continue to practice to showcase the talent that they qualified for in the State Chamber Festival on Mar. 15 at Warren Cousino High School.
Director James Gross, who has been in charge of overseeing the process of preparing the students for this competition, discusses some of his methods in teaching the students and overall what working with the students is like.
“Since September, the Chamber Orchestra has been practicing regularly on Fridays after school,” Gross said. “This is a feather in the hat of the members who are committed to staying after school after a long week of classes, extra-curricular, co-curriculars and clubs and they are a delightful group of young people.”
As well as working with dedicated students who work to perfect their skills, Isabel Romolino ‘25 talks about the steps she takes to prepare for the state competition and some things she experienced during her prep that she overcame.
“I have been working with a private teacher as well as attempting to get in an hour of practice a day,” Romolino said. “The most challenging part is navigating the dynamics between loud and quiet to obtain a division one rating as well as sight reading.”
With practice, Romolino was able to conquer this challenge and continues to improve her skills as she prepares. Olivia Husek ‘25 also dealt with some challenging instances as she practiced and how it affected her.
“The most challenging part of preparing is perfecting the small details because they make a big difference in the overall sound of our group,” Husek said. “From this experience, I’ve gained the ability to perform in a cohesive group and accept and apply feedback from judges, and these things are important regardless of the outcome.”
The chamber orchestra continues to improve as their teacher James Gross guides them to success, but whatever the outcome is, as Husek said, she and her peers have learned exceptionally well. Some pieces of music the orchestra will be playing are Jean Sibelius’s Impromptus Nos. 5 & 6 Op. 5 for String Orchestra. Gross talked about how he encourages students to not solely focus on the results of the concert, but the musicality behind it.
“I try to remind them and myself the reason for making music and that it’s not a show,” Gross said. “It’s not about me or them, drawing attention to oneself, or not for entertainment. The purpose of great music is to lift others.”
