Community is an integral part of the fine arts, and orchestra is no different. Following an abnormal school year, orchestra students and officers have been working towards reconnecting and creating an environment that makes all members feel welcome. 

After a year of courses that were mostly virtual, two classes of students haven’t had the opportunity to meet their classmates or teachers in-person. This, combined with minimal social activities, created obstacles for orchestra students when trying to connect with peers and instructors. 

“Last year, in the virtual environment, it was not impossible, but very, very challenging to create a sense of community,” Orchestra Director Mr. Joshua Thompson said. “Even though we can see each other and we can converse through the screen, there’s just not that connection you can get when you’re in the same room as somebody.”

As a result of remote learning’s limited class time, teachers had to find new ways to get necessary work and assessments completed. This provided the orchestra with new strategies to communicate and operate as a community while both online and in-person.

“We found processes that worked for virtual school that will continue forward, like shared folders,” Mr. Thompson said. “We now do playing assessments online instead of doing them in class and having to take class time for every kid to play.”

A large factor in rebuilding has been daily interaction. With about 50% of students having never regularly interacted with the orchestra room and routine, there was a need for introduction. To help fill this gap in knowledge, the orchestra had a “Welcome Week” with activities that helped students get to know their classmates and the orchestra room. Among these were a scavenger hunt, bingo, and videos. Seeing classmates has helped students reconnect with friends, make new ones, and be more invested in the program.

“With virtual learning, you lose the communication aspect that is really vital to a community,” Orchestra Vice President Shohom Mukherjee ‘22 said. “When you’re in-person, you’re always sitting next to another person. There’s people behind you, there’s people in front of you, and you’re able to talk about the music with other people or hear other people practicing and how they play.”

Another thing the orchestra officer team has been working on is setting up normal school events like socials. These happened regularly pre-pandemic and helped get students more acquainted with their orchestra peers. 

“Every year we have a movie night,” Mukherjee said. “We are actually having one [on Friday, Sept. 10], and along with the movie night, we have posters for each section. The main goal of the socials is to get people from other grades, other sections, and other orchestras to interact with each other to rebuild that sense of community.”

The combination of new learning strategies and the return to in-person classes have paved a new path for orchestra. This provided the orchestra with an opportunity to better the program and its sense of community. 

“Our program is so community-oriented, and everything from rehearsals to events is based on our sense of community and togetherness,” Orchestra President Anna Beatty ‘22 said. “I feel like right now we’re in a transition period of adjusting. It’s more of a time to rebuild the community and not take it to the place it used to be, but create a new community, especially with new students and some restrictions.”

Helping to facilitate this transition period are the orchestra upperclassmen, who already know the set procedures. This, combined with Welcome Week and the socials, are helping new students settle into routine as normal. 

“It almost feels like we haven’t had the big break, because it seems like procedures and everything’s already in place,” Mr. Thompson said. “The fact that half of them are returning has been enough to not make a huge impact on how we do things.”

After strengthening both the program and sense of community, orchestra is starting this school year better than ever. With events like  movie night and welcome week, new students feel more comfortable and involved, despite last year’s virtual setting.