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Focusing on his sheet music, Ethan Grigsby ’28 plays the double bass at the UIL Preview Concert. The full orchestra had been preparing for the concert and the evaluation since the beginning of the semester.
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Focused, Diane Kim ’28 looks up to follow the conductor at the UIL Preview Concert on Feb. 27. This concert gave the full orchestras an opportunity to perform before the actual UIL evaluation.
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With precision, Olivia Wang ’28 masterfully plays the cello. The full orchestra was a combination of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.
After months of practice, the Westwood Full Orchestras emerged victorious at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Concert & Sight-Reading Competition at the Raymond E. Hartfield Performing Arts Center (PAC) on Wednesday, Mar. 4. The three full orchestras — the two Philharmonic Orchestras combined with the Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony respectively, and the Symphony Orchestra combined with the Wind Ensemble — earned superior ratings from all judges, and swept the stage with all ones
“[Full orchestra] was really fun, I got to spend a lot of time with my friends, and it was really fun enjoying music together,” Shruti Sivaraman ‘28 said. “It’s always [great] playing in an orchestra and Mr. Thompson makes the experience very exciting and fulfilling.”
The orchestras have been rehearsing their programs from the start of the semester, with both in-class rehearsals and afterschool rehearsals. These rehearsals were important to make sure the program ran smoothly, with good coordination between band and orchestra.
“I’ve played with a band before but I think feeling the collaboration with such a good orchestra here at Westwood for the first time was really [fun],” Sivaraman said. “I also really loved the pieces that were selected.”
In addition to rehearsals, the full orchestras held their Pre-UIL concert at the PAC on Thursday, Feb. 27. This concert gave them the opportunity to practice how their experience would be at the actual performance.
“The Pre-UIL concert is helpful,” Sunny Wang ‘28 said. “It lets us know as an orchestra where we are, and it gives us the opportunity to fix anything last minute before the actual evaluation.”
The UIL evaluation begins with a planned, rehearsed repertoire which the orchestra prepares for months in advance. It is followed by a sight reading portion of the evaluation where the orchestra is given a piece at their specific skill level which they have never seen before and expected to perform it after eight minutes of preparation time. Receiving superior ratings means exhibiting excellence in both of these components.
The band will take the stage again on Tuesday, Mar. 31 for their Pre-UIL Concert, and the orchestra will return to the spotlight on Monday, Apr. 13 for their UIL String Preview concert.
![Gazing into the audience, Wes Autry ’26 as Mr. DePinna poses like the Discus Thrower as Mayla Montgomery ’26 as Penny Sycamore paints him. Mr. DePinna was especially absurd, requiring intense amounts of committment from Autry and resulting in an All-Star Cast honor at competiton. “I never expected anything like that,” Autry said. “[This is] the first year I’ve ever gone to UIL, and winning an award from it is gratifying. It’s something I never thought I would achieve, and so achieving that makes me feel like everything I’ve done here wasn’t pointless.”](https://westwoodhorizon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Screen-Shot-2026-03-25-at-3.28.43-PM-1200x799.png)
