The Middle School Symphony earned top awards for its performance at the WorldStrides Heritage Festival from March 19-23. The Symphony, conducted by Emily Reola, performed three repertoire pieces: España Cañi, In the Fading Light of Autumn and the Overture to The Barber of Seville in front of a panel of adjudicators.
Reola praised the ensemble’s focus and responsiveness during its recent adjudicated performance.
“I was so impressed with the Middle School Symphony’s maturity and flexibility during our adjudicated performance,” Reola said. “As I conducted them, they watched me with such focus and made instant, clean adjustments in real time, which is something most middle school ensembles lack the maturity or ability to do at such a young age.”
In addition to the competition, students had the chance to explore Nashville, including a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry Museum. The Symphony had an opportunity to perform at a masterclass at Vanderbilt University to receive feedback from a professor before performing at the Heritage Festival. The trip concluded with an awards ceremony, dinner and dance celebrating all participating ensembles’ accomplishments.
Symphony flutist Madison Shen ’28 said the ensemble’s long-term preparation made the adjudicated performance especially meaningful.
“I’m really proud of the Middle School Symphony because we’ve been working on these songs since the beginning of the school year,” Shen said. “After putting in so much work, we were all really excited to perform in front of the adjudicators.”
The Symphony returned with multiple top awards, including the Judicator Award, which is awarded to the group with the highest combined averages from the judges. Symphony Concertmaster Claire Lee ’28 received the prestigious Maestro Award, which recognizes extraordinary musical ability and sensitivity demonstrated by the nominees.
“I was incredibly proud that all of our hard work paid off when Symphony was recognized with so many awards,” Lee said. “I was completely surprised and overjoyed when my name was called in front of hundreds of students from around the world to receive the [Maestro Award], and hearing Harvard-Westlake students cheer me as I was walking onto the stage made the moment unforgettable.”
