Believe it or not, years ago the Amherst Symphony Orchestra (ASO) was partly made up of professional musicians and a few student musicians. Mark Swanson, the Director of ASO made an effort to bring all the Amherst musicians together, therefore, the ASO is now an orchestra of Amherst musicians and some UMass (University of Massachusetts) musicians. I heard about the program before entering Amherst College because of my interest in classical music and previously being in the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Los Angeles. My first performance, the Concertofest concert started with a seemingly short piece “Procession of the Nobles” from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Mlada. The second piece that was played was a senior thesis that showcases Eric Ingram (Amherst Class of ‘23) performing Vladimir Cosma’s flashy Euphonium Concerto. The next senior thesis, performed by French horn soloist, Claire Taylore (Amherst Class of ‘23) showcased Richard Strauss’ heroic First Horn Concerto. Every year, the seniors in the orchestra who major in music perform their long rehearsed solo piece in a concert catered to them. For my first semester, it is clear Amherst has flowing talent with the musicians and artists in every department.
I was a bit nervous performing again for the first time since last year. Once I began the Procession of Nobles everything felt familiar, the breathing, the fingers, the lights, except this time it was in the Buckley Recital Hall. It is known to be the primary concert, rehearsal, and music performance lab on the Amherst College campus. In case you are wondering about the hours the Amherst Symphony puts into every concert, we have rehearsals on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00-9:30 pm. Amherst College has a variety of musical groups like jazz ensembles, orchestra, choir, dance, theatre, etc. All groups have at least one performance on campus every year, some more than others, and some off-campus in the other 5 colleges. Being a part of a group in which every person shares a passion for music helps you meet people you would not have expected to even interact with. The flute group has been supportive of my integration into the orchestra and section, overall a heart-warming community. I enjoy performing and maybe you want to continue pursuing your passions by joining some of the art programs Amherst has to offer. In addition to this, there are private music lessons if you are interested in that.