Arcadia High’s Orchestra Hosts 24th Annual Benefit Dinner

ARCADIA, CA — Arcadia Unified School District's Digital Communications Interns are out making the news once again, this time, Jasmine Oang has shared her views of the recent Orchestra Benefit Dinner at Arcadia High School.

At most concerts, audience members are often many feet away from the stage. However, at Arcadia High School’s annual Orchestra Benefit Dinner (OBD), the audience becomes a part of the stage. Surrounded by student performers during the finale, every seat is a front row seat, offering attendees the unique experience of being able to watch and hear students from a new perspective. For 24 years, OBD has created unforgettable memories, each year raising funds to further the education of students in the program and each year having a fun, new theme.

This year’s OBD theme, “Strings Olé,” brought guests along on a Spanish getaway. Encompassing the idea of a fiesta, on Feb. 24, the Arcadia Masonic Center looked unrecognizable, decked in papeles picados(Mexican paper garlands) and vibrant, handmade paper flowers. Some guests even joined in on the fun, arriving in bright, colorful attire inspired by traditional Latin-American costumes. Inside, guests had the chance to fashion their own maracas out of spoons and plastic eggs filled with rice to join in on the concert or simply for amusement. In addition, attendees took part in raffles and a silent auction where all of the prizes and items were donated by the supportive families of Orchestra members.

Entertained by numerous tangos and Latin-American-inspired pieces as they ate, guests were treated to performances by student ensembles, professional guest artist Vadim Brunell, and a combined orchestra finale. Various ensembles from each Orchestra showcased their talents and performed self-chosen pieces in small groups ranging from well-known classics to rhythmic Spanish songs. One group, humorously named “Three Maestros and It,” featured four seniors who had been in an ensemble ever since seventh grade and have performed at the dinner every year since they were freshmen. As for Brunell, he performed popular Spanish songs from various decades using an extraordinary, bodiless electric guitar bedazzled in glitter and lined with a gold colored trim. To end the night, students from Orchestra 1, 2, and 3 joined forces to perform a few songs.

For the finale, students performed “Uno, Dos, Bass,” “Besame Mucho,” and “Huapango-El Centro,” filling the room and visibly captivating the audience. One of the pieces, “Uno, Dos, Bass,” was composed by Richard Meyer, a former Apache, and uniquely featured the Bass section. “Besame Mucho,” Spanish for "kiss me a lot," was a popular song in the ‘90s and brought back an unforgettable beat. Concluding the night with “Huapango-El Centro,” the piece featured a variety of different beats including a drum-like pattern from the cellos and a ukulele-like strumming sequence from the second violins. Students memorized all three pieces and performed them without sheet music, mirroring the unforgettable experience of this year’s OBD.

Photo Credit: Jasmine Oang