As she played the final note of “Bacchanale,” freshman violinist Karina Garridolee thought back on her year in orchestra with a smile.

The May 2 concert was the second to feature a combined band and orchestra, which Garridolee said she enjoyed.

“My favorite song was ‘American in Paris,’” she said. “It’s nice having a full symphony orchestra so we can play songs like those.”

The symphony orchestra performed a piece called “Four Wonders Overture” written by composer Thomas Sleeper to commemorate the school’s 20th anniversary, as well as its first time having a full orchestra.

“I thought this concert was really interesting, especially with the piece that Mr. Sleeper conducted for us,” Garridolee said.

However, she said she wished she had been able to play more romantic classical pieces, and freshman flutist Gabby Wills said she would have liked her band to have played more challenging pieces.

“I feel that [band teacher Christopher] Houze had to pick songs lower than our capabilities allowed us, because of certain people not practicing at home at all,” she said.

But she said she did feel challenged by some aspects of the pieces she played.

“In my band specifically, we dealt with sixteenth notes, and prior to that, we had mostly studied songs with very lyrical phrases, or ones with strictly eighth notes,” she said. “So, playing sixteenth notes was a little nerve-wracking.”

Will said she most enjoyed listening to the symphony orchestra.

“The sound they put out is so beautiful and rich,” she said. “The musicians in orchestra are extremely talented, and they all know how to blend their sounds.”

By Chloe Seifert