Orchestra Celebrates Five Years at Concert

The Westmont Orchestra, celebrating its fifth year, opens a new season Friday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. in Hahn Hall at the Music Academy of the West and Sunday, Nov. 7, at 3 p.m. in First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave. Tickets to the Fall Orchestra Concert, which can be purchased at (805) 565-7140, are $10 general admission; students are free.

“Five seasons may not seem like a particularly remarkable milestone,” says Michael Shasberger, Adams professor of music and worship, “but in the life of a four-year undergraduate institution it’s a distinctive anniversary for some very special reasons.”

A generation of Westmont students has graduated, leaving an ensemble of new students who’ve never known the college without a symphony orchestra. Shasberger began serving at Westmont five years ago, growing the string chamber ensemble in size and maturity to its present configuration as a full symphonic orchestra.

“We are a vibrant and dynamic orchestra made up of students from every academic discipline,” Shasberger says. “Our members are just as likely to become a professional musician as they are a physician or pastor. It is exciting to see and hear the music being crafted by these bright, intellectually curious, and passionate musicians.”

The concert features Georges Bizet’s L’arelsienne Suite #2 and Aaron Copland’s “A Lincoln Portrait.” Junior Sarah Shasberger (viola) is the featured soloist for William Walton’s Concerto Movement 1 for Viola and Orchestra.