County high schoolers offer evening of music at Honors Concert
In just a few days, the music of Handel, Bach and Holst will fill Warren Atherton Auditorium at San Joaquin Delta College.
Choir, band and strings students will entrance the audience with music such as VIDA’s “Famine Song,” Edward Elgar’s “Serenade for Strings in E Minor, Op. 20” and David Beidenbender’s “Melodious Thunk” at the 2018 County Honors Concert on Saturday evening.
But they’re not a professional symphony or even Delta College students. They’re in high school — although they’re playing at a college level.
“It is an accelerated program. We’re working with the best of the best from throughout the county,” said Sandra Wendell, project liaison with the San Joaquin County Office of Education for the Honors Ensembles program. “We hold auditions each fall and it’s open to any band, choir or orchestra student throughout San Joaquin County.”
With the help of their school’s music instructors, students prepare a recording demonstrating their skills and send it to the county office.
This year, students were able to submit their auditions digitally as well as by CD or cassette.
Once the students are selected — 122 choir, 101 band and 60 orchestra students this round — they audition live for their chair ranking.
The pieces they perform each year are chosen by the three guest conductors who lead each section. The musical selections present a challenge to the students, while showcasing their musical talents and skills.
The guest conductors hail from local universities — this year’s guests are M.J. Wamhoff, Delta’s director of bands; Yejee Choi, director of choral studies at University of the Pacific; and Melissa Panlasigui, resident conductor of the University of California, Berkeley, Symphony Orchestra.
Working with them gives the students a chance to see what studying music at the college level might be like, like a master class, Wendell said. Some students even choose a college because they enjoyed working with a visiting professor, she said.
The entire process is meant to give the students the experience of performing at a high level with the best of their peers and college-level conductors.
A small but growing group of students perform at the Honors Concert for all four years of high school.
“You have to make it in as a freshman, and it can be very competitive,” Wendell said.
This year, a record 27 students are performing for the fourth time, including Keith Mandujan of Bear Creek High School and Shelly Perez of McNair High School.
Each of the four-year students was invited to write an essay explaining why music should be taught in every school. The writer of the winning essay will be granted the Nelson Zane Scholarship, and the other 26 four-year students will be given a Nelson Zane Award.
The program began 59 years ago, and originally the choir and band concerts were held separately. Eventually they came together, and the orchestra was added several years ago as more high school band directors began adding strings
to their programs.
Students this year attend 21 schools in 10 districts in the county. Many of the student musicians excel in other areas, too, like sports, Science Olympiad and the arts.
“We quite often get the students who are the high-excelling (ones), and they’re working on other things,” Wendell said.
But they still take the time out of their days to rehearse and perform at the annual Honor Concert. And their teachers take the time to attend rehearsals, help prepare and adjudicate auditions, and more as well.
“It’s something that’s above and beyond their normal day,” Wendell said.
Despite the extra work, over the past 15 years of her involvement, the program has only grown, she said.
“I’m very proud of the program,” she said.
The Honor Concert is sponsored by the San Joaquin County Office of Education, the San Joaquin County Music Educators’ Association, and San Joaquin Delta College, which provides Atherton Auditorium as the performance space each year.