Music department hosts exclusive electives night performances

The Saratoga Symphony Orchestra stands with Mr. Boitz at the end of their performance.

The music department’s annual SHS preview on elective night, Jan. 31, was switched last-minute to a Zoom meeting, causing numerous interested rising-freshmen and parents from Redwood Middle School to miss the event. The Zoom meeting was also hijacked several times by an intruder who spammed the Zoom chat with inappropriate messages, forcing principal Greg Louie to continuously restart the meeting. 

“Needless to say, it did not represent our school  — and especially our music department — as warranted,” music teacher Michael Boitz said.

Hosting a successful electives night was especially important to the program in order to maintain and even strengthen the district-wide thriving music community that Saratoga is known for. Enrollment in the music program is up despite decreasing overall post-pandemic enrollment in Saratoga schools — the 130 students in the fifth-grade music program this year makes up the “largest beginning orchestra and band in recent memory,” according to Redwood Middle School orchestra director Isabel McPherson. Even so, constant effort is necessary to uphold the program’s numbers and quality. 

In order to give future high schoolers a proper introduction to the high school music program, the music directors including Boitz, band director Jason Shiuan, choir director Beth Nitzan and middle school music directors John Jow and McPherson decided to hold an in-person Saratoga Music Showcase and Info Night in the McAfee Center on Feb. 9. 

During the event, the McAfee stage was packed with musicians from the Saratoga Symphony Orchestra (SSO). The audience was just as full, with parents and students standing behind the back row to watch. The musicians showcased an excerpt of “Rainbow Body” by Christopher Theofanidis, which SSO plans to perform in their March Concert and on the Europe tour over the summer. 

“I loved that they got to hear us play, however short it may have been,” junior SSO violinist Carolyn Pyun said.

She said she remembers attending elective night as an eighth grader and will always remember the “dramatic curtain reveal” preceding the orchestra’s performance.

After a performance by SWE and choir on the McAfee stage and a showcase by the color guard outside the McAfee, where the audience members crowded into the parking lot to watch, pizza and hot chocolate were served. 

Inside the music building, there were stations displaying programs of the music department, similar to the pre-pandemic elective night info session done in the gym. SHS students answered questions from parents and incoming high schoolers and took groups of four to five younger students on tours of the music building. 

As they debriefed the event, Boitz, music department faculty and students discussed whether the exclusive music department electives night was a better option than the traditional pre-pandemic electives night that encompassed music, dance and cheer all at once.

The traditional event reached a wider audience and people who were not previously interested in music would be exposed to the music department and their performances, he said. During the exclusive music showcase night, families would have had to step into the McAfee Center with an initial interest in the music program. 

However, seeing that the night of Feb. 9 still accumulated a large audience and was successful overall, the music department will consider hosting an exclusive music department electives’ night again in the following years.

“I hope our info night continues in the future,” Pyun said. “I think it was a great way for students to connect with high schoolers and get more comfortable with the music program at SHS.”