Bella Yi

Crowding around a poster board, Junior cellists Samhita Guntakala and Sam Yarbrough refine their sketch of a cello. Over the span of an hour and a half, the cellists worked together to bring their section poster to life. “Every year, we always draw a cello in some sort of different situation, and this year [it’s] a cello wearing concert black on a stage,” Yarbrough said.

Dozens of students crowd the orchestra room after school on Friday, Aug. 30, bowls of ice cream in hand. Across the blue tarps on the carpet, poster boards and colorful paints scattered the ground, an indication of the orchestra’s annual Section Poster Ice Cream Social.

“[Usually] we aren’t allowed to eat food in the orchestra room, so this is pretty special,” cellist Sam Yarbrough ‘26 said. 

Organized by the orchestra officers and the Orchestra Booster Club, this first social of the school year aimed to encourage conversation within different sections. 

“Orchestra socials are a bonding experience. During rehearsal time, we don’t really talk to each other much,” Yarbrough said. “This lets us interact with other people in our section, so it’s very important.”

The social started with an introduction of the event, followed by an icebreaker to get the attendees talking. Each section then started painting a poster for their instrument.

“I get to work with every cello [player] on our poster. Usually it’s something music related. This year, we’re doing a cello wearing concert black on a stage,” Yarbrough said. “[Later], we judge each others’ [posters] in class.”

To many attendees, the ice cream was a fundamental aspect of the social, so the orchestra officers planned with that in mind, referencing past section poster socials for ideas. 

“We prepared by looking back on last year’s social and seeing if there’s any improvements [to be made],” Squads Committee Officer Iris Chen ‘26 said. “We decided [to] do it inside [the orchestra room] so that people would feel more connected, and we created a new thing this year called the sundae bar.” 

The social was considered a success by its attendees and planners, with plans of repeating the event in the years to come.

“It’s important [we do this] because [although] we play every day in an orchestra, it’s also important to create a great community for everyone to be in,” Chen said.