McLean High's 2025-2026 school year is finished!  For the Orchestra it was a fruitful, busy season.  The were Fall, Winter, and Spring school concerts featuring each of the high school orchestras.  Additional events involving members of McLean's orchestra included the annual in-school Holiday Showcase concert alongside the jazz and choir programs, a Pyramid concert featuring elementary school students from around the McLean area,, the VBODA District XII & Northern Regional Honors Orchestra concerts, the All-Virginia High School Orchestra even in Richmond, and the VBODA District XII High School Orchestra Assessment.  We also warmly hosted the Detmolder Jugendorchester students as part of our long-standing German exchange program, rehearsing daily side-by-side and culminating their trip to the USA with a well attended concert.  In addition to all of that, orchestra members took a quick musical trip to Cleveland to see the Cleveland Orchestra, participate in a workshop at Case Western, and more!

As part of out international cultural exchange, the visiting Detbold Jugendorchester ("youth orchestra" of Detmold, Germany) stayed in McLean student's homes, attended some of our classes, visited local sites, toured the nation's capital building and rehearsed 2-4 hours daily side-by-side with the McLean HS Philharmonic Orchestra. The week ended with our annual Exchange concert on McLean's stage. Next year, it will be McLean's turn to travel to Germany!

Another part of our cultural and musical education was our spring trip to Cleveland, witch  featured a tour of The Cleveland Orchestra's home Severance Hall followed by an unforgettable concert featuring cellist soloist Sol Gabetta and enjoyed a special post-concert chat with professional musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra.  The Cleveland Orchestra is one of the "top five" orchestras in the county, so it was a true blessing to see witness such musicality and professionalism. Students also took part in a workshop at Case Western Reserve University with Dr. Kathleen Horvath, Associate Professor of String Education and Pedagogy, visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Cleveland Art Museum, and had many orchestra-bonding experiences along the waterfront.

Congratulations to the following orchestra students for placing into this year’s Virginia All-State Orchestra! 

Violin
David Ahn
Eric Cho
Siyoon Kim
Sophia Wang

Students auditioned amongst hundreds of highly skilled student musicians and participated in a special performance alongside student musicians from around the state this past April in Richmond, Virginia! They performed Don Juan  by Richard Strauss, Sensamayá by Silvestre Revueltas, and "I. Buckaroo Holiday" from Rodeo by Aaron Copland under the direction of conductor Nobuyoshi Yasuda.

This year, the orchestra is selling beautiful Highlander ceramic Christmas ornaments. Orders can be placed here for pick up or shipping: https://square.link/u/NwXVLkjG
 
Stop by our table at the Holiday Bazaar on December 13th anytime from 10am-3PM to purchase an ornament in person and enter our annual basket raffle!

Congratulations to the following students who auditioned for and were accepted into the Senior District 12 Honors Orchestra, which will take place on January 9 & 10th at Langley High School under the direction of Dr. David Grandis (Director of Orchestras at William and Mary):
 
1st VIOLIN
Subeen Byeon, concertmaster
Ashley Tang
Daksh Bhatia
Rachael Moon
Bryce Yang
Alexander Ham
Yi-Win (Ann) Li

2nd VIOLIN
Su Bin (Olivia) Lee
Boaz Kim
Mason Luczycki
​Joseph Lewis

VIOLA
Aaron Lin
Zoe Misitzis, alternate
 
CELLO
Hanna Ni

​Thank you to all students who put in the hard work and time to audition.