Parents, peers and staff fill the auditorium seats as they wait for the final orchestra performance of the year to start. As the clock hits 6:30 p.m. on April 22, Orchestra Director Melanie Richardson takes the microphone and addresses the audience for the last time this school year. After three previous concerts, various competitions and one Disneyworld workshop, the final concert will be the send-off for the orchestra program, especially for the department’s one graduating senior. 

 “For the final concert of the year, Richardson wanted us … having a lot of fun and ending the year memorably,” sophomore David Amador said. 

Students performed many recognizable pieces such as “Star Wars,” “Selections from The Lion King,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.” For graduating senior Enzo Oliveira Savage, the excerpt from “Pirates of the Caribbean” was more than a song in the concert lineup.

“What made ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ stand out was the fact that it was also my first performance at West Shore,” Savage said. “My whole music career stemmed from this one song.” 

Savage has been a part of the orchestra program since the 2021-2022 school year, and the piece was selected to celebrate his accomplishments as the program’s only graduating senior. Savage and junior Tommy Brown dressed as pirates and carried a jar of dirt on stage. 

“Just as Captain Jack Sparrow carried the jar of dirt, I carried my jar of memories, which represents everything I have built and experienced,” Savage said. 

At the end of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” all three orchestra levels filled the stage and surrounding floor area to play “Ode to Joy” as one group. 

“We were playing ‘Ode to Joy’ with our full orchestra, all 90-something kids,” Amador said. “We spent 40 minutes just trying to figure out how to fit all the kids on the stage on the day of the concert.”  

The performance showcased the talent of all levels, combining Chamber, Symphonic and Concert Orchestra to play different parts of the well-known piece. 

“I think it was really cool how all three of the orchestras were able to work together and make an amazing performance,” sophomore Raaha Sellamuthu said. “It’s the first time we’ve done anything like that.”

By Daniella Fassman