Through years and years of successful wins, performances, and concerts under the direction of Mr. Forbes and Ms. Chen, AHS’ Orchestra program has built quite a reputation for itself. Not many high school music programs out there can pride themselves in saying that they have the opportunity to travel to Florida every four years, host three annual concerts in a venue as big as the PAC, or win numerous trophies and high honors at several competitions each year. Under this large program of successful musicians, there are three orchestras who both host separate activities or combine together to host even larger events.

Orchestra I consists purely of freshman students who, although are the underclassmen, show that they can still achieve success through winning high marks in festivals such as the SCSBOA String Festival in Long Beach and others. The Strings Orchestra, better known as Orchestra II, often tours with the advanced orchestra and competes in prestigious festivals and tournaments as well. Finally, the advanced orchestra, Orchestra III or the Symphony Strings, consists of members who have passed through a tryout process, perform a wide variety of music, and like the others, have won many awards of excellence and have had high praise from critics. All three inspire their audiences and move people with the beautiful tunes of their songs and well prepared melodies.

More recent news, from Mar. 24 to Mar. 26, Orchestra II and Orchestra III travelled together on their annual San Diego tour to perform at the Heritage Festival, which consists of talented orchestras and music groups from all over Southern California. For the audience, it might have seemed like a positive festival consisting of great music and displayed skill, but for the performers, this festival was a competition consisting of professional judges that did not only grade each competitor group but also gave constructive criticism for further improvement and skill for the future.

With all the hard work and efforts each and every musician has put into this program, there have definitely been times when perseverance and dedication were rewarded. For the first day of the tour, orchestra attendees went to relax from the stress of competition and school at the San Diego Zoo, since they did not perform until the day afterwards. Furthermore, the next day, they performed the music they had prepared during their scheduled time, leaving the rest of the day free for members to have fun at Sea World.

Overall, this tour was a great experience and bonding event for all participants of this music program. Orchestra II and III members who attended this tour and competed as representatives of AHS in San Diego sure had a lot of fun and learned many new things also.