The YLHS Orchestras are looking ahead to a busy year! Mr. Mortensen, the Orchestra director, is really looking forwards to all the events this year. Not only will the YLHS Orchestras be performing at concerts, but they are looking to bigger opportunities than ever!

Mr. Mortensen said, “My plans for Orchestra is to have a tour to San Francisco. We will leave the day after Festival performances in March.” This will the the Orchestra’s first and biggest trip since the school started. While both Orchestras, String and Sinfonia, have done annual performances at Disneyland, neither have been able to do something so big. Mr. Mortensen is planning on bringing the Orchestra up to San Francisco for a 3-day weekend. They be able to perform, and also be able to sightsee the city of San Francisco.

There are two ensembles that make up the YLHS Orchestras: a String Orchestra, and a Sinfonia Orchestra. Sinfonia is a much smaller audition-only group, with less than twenty players. For major performances, they join with Esperanza High School Sinfonia group. This mainly occurs for the first Fall concert, in preparation for the SCSBOA Festival, and other major performances that the Orchestra is invited to. Last year, the YLHS-EHS Sinfonia achieved the only unanimous superior score at the district at Festival. They will be working hard to keep the high ranking. EHS will also be joining the YLHS Orchestra for the San Francisco trip next March.
Sinfonia had its first concert Monday, October 27, at the Performing Arts Center at El Dorado High School along with all the top groups in the district. In just a few weeks, the YLHS Orchestras will be hosting their combined Fall Concert. After that, the YLHS-EHS Sinfonia will be performing with El Dorado’s Sinfonia at the District Winter Festival, which features the choirs from all four schools. There will also be a Winter Concert just before Winter break with the YLHS Band.