From performances to exploring museums and memorials, the Orchestra and Choir classes recently took a trip to Washington D.C to perform in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

The trip started off with a 16-hour car ride to reach their destination. Their first official day was spent doing some light sight seeing which included seeing the White House at the Black Lives Matter plaza, visiting the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, enjoying an evening walking tour of many memorials, they saw the National World War ll Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and ended with a spectacular view of the Washington Monument. 

Freshman Samantha Boardman, in particular, viewed the first day as a highlight of the trip, “My highlight from this trip was going to the memorials and museums. I really enjoyed learning about people’s backstories. I think this trip really impacted me in a good way because I got to hang out and meet a lot of new people that I didn’t think I would be friends with,” she said.

Day two was filled with many activities such as viewing a change of the Guard Ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, attend a Choir and Orchestra clinic with Dr. Michael Wu & Col. Dennis Layendecker, and visiting the National Smithsonian Zoo.

The clinic with Dr. Michael Wu & Col. Dennis Layendecker was definitely helpful for all in both the orchestra and choir classes. “It’s hard to choose one favorite.  It was so great to hear the choir perform at our workshop with Dr. Wu because we finally heard all of the extra work we put in outside of school come together. They sounded great!” choir director Michael Jones said.

Day three was fun-filled, with the Orchestra and Choir students performing in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the Festival of the States. The Festival of the States is an annual concert series held in many different cities throughout the United States. This helps provide a more educational and musical experience for the music ensembles that take part in this festival, while also celebrating the history of the United States. 

Orchestra director, Britney Whiting, reflects on the performance in front of the Lincoln Memorial. “It was a surreal experience to see my students perform in front of the Lincoln Memorial!  It was so cool to see people passing by, stopping once they saw the performance, and smiling/commenting on how much they enjoyed hearing our music,” she said.

After the concert, they traveled to the National Archives building and visited Capitol Hill to explore the many different buildings there. They ended the night with a high note boarding a cruise for a dance and dinner on the Potomac River. 

Day four was a well spent last day, traveling to various places around the city, such as visiting the World War ll memorial and laying a wreath on the state marker, visiting both the American History and Natural History Smithsonian Museums, and then finally ending with the Udvar-Hazy Center Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Trips like these are important for students to become more connected to their music classes, and even pursue more music classes in the future. Many have been impacted positively by this trip, like junior Anthony Galusha.

 “I would say the trip impacted me by further connecting me to choir as this was one of the many opportunities I have received as a result of being in choir. It was very cool performing in D.C. and it felt awesome representing the school on pretty much a national level,” he said. 

From this, everyone can conclude that this was a wonderful experience for all those who attended.