On Friday, September 10, Westwood Orchestra students gathered after school from 4:30 to 5:45 in the orchestra hall for the very first in-person social of the year. The event centered around section-poster making, an annual tradition where each of the sections, divided by instrument, create posters that are displayed around the orchestra room for the remainder of the school year. The social was the first of many more to come as the orchestra officers continue to work towards the goal of community building. In preparation, officers advertised the social through posters, the orchestra Instagram account, as well as a promotional video. 

Overall, the event was hugely successful in giving students across all five orchestras the opportunity to relax and have fun socializing, with many chatting with others who they hadn’t even known before. 

“I thought it was great that we had good representation across all five classes, which was the biggest goal for the first social,” Orchestra Director Joshua Thompson said.

“This event’s goal is socializing after the pandemic and having a strong bond between all the orchestra members again, and I think we’ve been successful at it so far,” orchestra officer and second violinist Nitya Khurana ’24 said.

Although the second violin poster had widely varying responses, students were generally pleased with their creations.

“The idea for our poster was basically just grab a paintbrush. I actually really like the idea, because we all get to do what we want to, while just talking and having fun,” Khurana said. “I think [the second violin poster] is the best, because even though the other ones have a lot of artistry, we had a lot of fun.” 

As the section didn’t have a specific theme, each student was able to add anything they desired onto the poster, resulting in a poster that, while perceived by some as chaotic, was truly representative of the original ideas of its members.

 “It’s not exactly beautiful, but it’s beautiful in our hearts, you know?,” orchestra officer and harpist Izzy Valenzuela ’24 said.

On the other hand, the first violinists, whose posters were generally less liked in past years, were satisfied with the outcome of their new poster.  

“I really don’t know [how we came up with the theme], we just kinda started drawing violins,” first violinist Namita Maralla ’24 said. The poster featured various drawings of violins, created by each of the members in their own unique styles.

While the first violin poster was definitely better than past creations, the most popularly liked posters were the bass, viola, and cello posters. The bass section themed their poster around the pop song All About That Bass, while the viola section made a play on a popular meme. The cello section poster featured Charle, the inflatable alien kept in the orchestra room. 

“I thought that the event was great because it not only allowed students to express their creative freedoms, but also to connect with each other outside of playing music. It was pretty simple planning the social, since it’s a tradition and [had] always been a success,” orchestra officer and bassist Kayli Nauls ’22 said. 

Orchestra’s next event is the Squads Reveal on Friday, September 24th before school.