Angela Henry’s orchestra class performs their warm up piece “Armonico” by Antonio Vivaldi at Cox High School on Friday, March 1, 2024. Photo used with permission from Francis Lawler.

The orchestra musicians competed in the annual district assessment on March 1, 2024, at Cox High School at 7 p.m.

The band, composed of only string instruments, endured many weeks of practice and time spent after school to prepare for the event. 

The orchestra director Angela Henry compared the assessment with SOLs because it is a type of cumulative test for the students. 

During the assessment, each orchestra band was required to perform a warm-up piece and two main pieces. The philharmonic orchestra’s main pieces were “The Grieved Soul” and “Vanishing Point.”  All of the bands were professionally examined on the quality and perfection of their music. 

Performances were judged specifically on tone quality, rhythm, balance, technique, intonation, interpretation and utilization of preparatory time, according to the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association. 

Henry held the bar high for the orchestra. She hoped for a successful night and for the band to continue developing and growing in their talents. Her hopes came to fruition that Friday night when the band was awarded perfect scores and the overall excellence award. 

“I expect that our students will have their best performance on stage, so they can show these judges that they are amazing,” said Henry.