The Wilsonville music program celebrated its fall concerts this past month! The choir, band, and orchestra each had their debut performances in the new auditorium on three separate nights. With a nearly full auditorium on each night, the Wilsonville community continues to be accustomed to the new Performing Arts Center.

The choir and orchestra concerts featured appearances from the respective Wilsonville middle school music programs. Having the middle schools present was beneficial for both programs – the high schoolers were able to see the future of their program, and the youth got to experience high-caliber performances by their older peers.

There was positive feedback from middle school students. Middle schooler Eleora D’Souza (cello) believes that the experience benefitted her, saying she can “listen to what I will sound like in the future and work up to that.”

The new auditorium boosted the performance experience as well. Orchestra student Alex Chandra (viola) had praising words, expressing that the new space is “fresh and clean.” Choir student Maya Saunders weighed in, expressing that “the [ambiance] was really cool because the sound is just so much better!” 

The band concert was also impressive, despite the middle schools not being present. The jazz band featured multiple soloists across a wide variety of instruments, and although the new beginning-level Concert Band I wasn’t present at the concert, the Concert Band II and Symphonic Band showcased their talent at a high level.

On the choir front, junior Maya Saunders stated that the group “put in a lot of work,” which paid off at the concert. New choir director Karen Bohart has elevated the choir’s level of performance with overwhelmingly positive feedback from her students.

According to Saunders, Ms. Bohart “pushes [the choir students] to be the best version [they] can be, and it really showed in our first concert.”

Between longtime Wilsonville instrumental music director Chad Davies and the veteran experience of Karen Bohart in the choir field, the music program is set up for success this school year. With the focus shifted toward the upcoming winter concert, the music program appears poised to impress the audience as students advance their musical skills.