Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major, Op. 48, filled the Jan. 10 evening in the spacious music building room M101.
Playing alongside professional musicians violist Jessica Chang, cellist Laura Gaynon and violinist Zenas Hsu were 14 SHS students, who joined the trio for the final two pieces: “II. Valse. Moderato. Tempo di Valse” and “I. Pezzo in forma di sonata. Andante non troppo – Allegro moderato” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
The students were violinists seniors Sarang Narasimhan and Brandon Wang and sophomores Jenny Jiang, Sarah Jiang, Richard Chen and Thomas Lung; violists senior David Kim, junior Justin Chen and sophomore Maahi Agarwal; cellist seniors Samuel Cotta and Levi McBeth, junior Nolan Woo and sophomore Ethan Lee and senior bassist Ian Kim.
Chang, who founded the organization behind the concert — Chamber Music by the Bay (CMB) — began the concert with Hsu performing “Shave Ice” by Kenji Bunch, a modern piece written in 2020. They followed with the older compositions “Allegro” and “Adagio” from “String Duo No. 1 in G Major for Violin and Viola, K. 423” by Mozart and several pieces from “44 Duos for Two Violins, Sz. 98, BB 104” by Béla Bartók.
Gaynon joined the pair for five pieces from Ernst von Dohnányi’s “Serenade in C Major, Op. 10,” ranging from a romantic “Romanza: Adagio non troppo” to the fast-paced and fun “Scherzo: Vivace.”
Finally, the trio and the students performed two pieces by Tchaikovsky in CMB’s Side-by-Side project.
“I really enjoyed this year’s music selection [Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings], not only because it’s such an uplifting and iconic piece, but also because I’ve played it previously with other groups,” David Kim said. “In general, I found CMB’s music selections to be all fantastic and engaging.”
Chang, an alumna part of one of music department chair Michael Boitz’s very first orchestras, founded CMB in 2012 with support from Saratoga Music Boosters. Though the organization is based in the Bay Area, Hsu traveled to participate in the event from Boston, where he is a concertmaster in the Phoenix Orchestra.
Prior to their concert at SHS, CMB also spent the week touring around petting zoos, libraries and schools, performing their 12th season concert “World of Sound,” to students of all ages.
Before the performance, the Side-by-Side group had only a dress rehearsal and two 2-hour rehearsals. Regardless, Kim said the performance went smoothly and “wasn’t difficult.”
For 12 years, CMB’s Side-by-Side Project has featured orchestra students from Saratoga, Lynbrook and the Jewish Community High School of the Bay in performances along with seasoned musicians.
Many of the students like David Kim have played with the organization in previous years.
“It was a great honor to play with these professional musicians because I really think it’s a once in a lifetime experience. Not only that, but I feel like I’ve improved drastically during the four years of playing with them,” he said. “I’ve also been inspired to pursue music to my fullest extent after high school; balancing this activity with my academics will, undoubtedly, be difficult but I’m determined to push myself just like these musicians.”
