The annual POPS assembly, a showcase of Arcadia High School’s Chanteurs, Wind Ensemble, and Symphony Orchestra, was held at the Performing Arts Center (PAC) on May 22. The talented musicians from these groups captivated the audience with a rich and diverse repertoire spanning theater, popular radio, movies, and anime.
“For most of the assembly, it was okay,” senior Emily Kaw said. “It wasn’t necessarily the best since my mic was turned down too low or up too high during my performance, and I couldn’t hear the orchestra, but it still turned out well.”
These groups worked hard to prepare for the assembly, a stepping stone towards the POPS concert on May 25. The orchestras would perform songs from Harry Potter, The Final Countdown, and How to Train Your Dragon. The bands performed music from Up, Barbie, Frozen II, Indiana Jones, Rocky, and composer Alan Silvestri.
“For everyone in the Orchestra, the hardest piece to play was ‘Idol,’” Kaw further comments. “Everything was played in 6th position (a higher playing range), it was [played] out of tune, and my hand was cramping when I was playing [in 6th position]. Nobody sounded good.”
Chanteurs were the first to perform on the stage, performing songs from the 2016 movie Sing and the soundtrack to movie adaptations of The Phantom of the Opera. Following an interlude consisting of an instrumental rendition of Bruno Mars’ 2010 single “Just the Way You Are” by a saxophone quartet, the Symphony Orchestra took the second main act.
Symphony Orchestra opened with the movie soundtracks from How to Train Your Dragon, followed by performing two instrumental renditions of popular songs: the opening theme for the 2023 anime Oshi no Ko, Idol by J-pop duo Yoasobi, and Bruno Mars’ 2012 single “Treasure.” Wind Ensemble performed last following an interlude with an acapella rendition of Miley Cyrus’ 2009 single “Party in the USA.”
“I had a gang of friends that convinced me to sing the verse for ‘Idol,’” Kaw said. “I then volunteered myself as a tribute to the rehearsal on May 19. I told Mrs.Chen (the orchestra head) and said, ‘I want to do it,’ she reacted by smiling and laughing.”
The Wind Ensemble performed a compilation of songs from Raiders of the Lost Ark and Rocky, along with sections of the 1982 Survivor song “Eye of the Tiger.” During the climax of their performance, various spotlights illuminated red filled the PAC, giving the audience a fun visual accompaniment to Wind Ensemble’s songs.
