When you think of an orchestra concert, what is the setting like? Chances are that you thought about something formal and put-together, and while that is the truth in most cases, the Millard South Orchestra decided to have some fun with their winter concert. On Dec. 7, the orchestra held their pancake fundraiser prior to their formal concert and played some fun holiday tunes.
The pancake event was made possible with two men from the small business, “Pancake Man”. The two men made and served pancakes to people in line, where then those people would sit down and eat their pancakes while either chatting or playing games, all the while they listened to the three orchestras play. The event was a new idea for many attending and participating in it.
“We started it last year because we wanted to try a new way to showcase our small ensembles, and the winter concert was getting kind of long, and we thought that it might be more fun if people were eating while listening to the small ensembles playing,” orchestra director Dr. Brittany Rom said.
The small ensembles were the three levels of the orchestra, Philharmonic, Symphony, and Chamber. The three orchestras were all divided into their respective groups. Philharmonic and Symphony played holiday music, while Chamber played mostly classical. After, all three groups came together and divided up again depending on instrument and played three different solos each.
“Pancake Man came, and everyone got to eat and play games while listening to music,” Rom said. “The students were not left out though! They got to also eat and play when they weren’t on stage performing.”
Speaking of the students, their roles were not done even after playing their music. A lot of the preparation and disassembling relied heavily on students, who were assigned jobs based on their level and their instrument.
“This year, freshmen didn’t have jobs until after the concert where we had to take down the decorations and the mics and all that once the formal concert was over,” freshman Amy Ly said.
Sophomore Janet Nass also explained her job. “For Chamber violas, we had to put together the activities into the buckets and then distribute them from table to table. After the formal concert, we had to collect them and take the games out to put the games back in their boxes. It was really annoying trying to find the dice for games and pieces that matched puzzles.”
The money that was raised from the concert will go towards new equipment for the orchestra, such as speakers, replacement strings, and more.
