The Hopewell Elementary School Advanced Orchestra went on a mini-concert tour Friday March 15. The orchestra is made up of 19 fifth-grade students.
Our first performance was at the Pennington Montessori School, where the preschoolers enjoyed listening to the “big kids” play. This annual performance started about sixteen years ago when five of the boys in the orchestra asked if we could go and play at the preschool they had all attended. The boys enjoyed seeing their teachers again, and we’ve returned almost every year since then. Each year the pre-school students love listening to the music and are super well-behaved during the concert.
This year, for the first time, the orchestra students performed a second concert on the same tour. They walked from the Montessori School to the Brandywine Senior Living Community to share their music with the Seniors, who enjoyed hearing the orchestra very much.
The students played the American folk tune “John Ryan’s Polka,” the Mexican tune “Los Machetes,” and the Hungarian round “Keep the Music Ringing.” They played (and sang) the TikTok sensation “The Wellerman,” and after a few more tunes they closed with their favorite piece from last year, “Burst!” The orchestra is under the direction of Janet Mills.
Hopewell Elementary School Advanced Orchestra students are, third row: Toryn Mojiri, Evan Gonzalez, James Cotter, David Gonzalez, Elizabeth Doku, Aurora Arnesen, and Darian Mojiri. Second row: Aaryan Kumar, Gavin Rassam, Bailey Harris-Speer, Molly Farmer, Nora Cassaday, Macauley DelVecchio. First Row: Alexander Detherage, Leopold Matthews, Byung-Hee Han, Tony Milinowicz, Eva Rossy, and Florence Boyle.
