OPRF Orchestra Showcases Student Talent in Upcoming Spring Concerts: March 25 & 26

For more than a century, Oak Park and River Forest High School has been known for its strong music tradition. This month, that tradition continues as more than 100 student musicians take the stage for the orchestra program’s spring concerts.

The performances will feature OPRF’s three orchestras, Symphony Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Concert Orchestra, and showcase the dedication, collaboration, and artistry students develop throughout the year.

“This is our art gallery,” said Orchestra Director Patrick Pearson. “Visual artists hang their work on the wall. For us, it’s an audible art gallery. The audience comes to experience the music our students have been working on all year.”

One of the highlights of the March concert will be a featured performance by junior pianist Benjamin Drucker, one of this year’s winners of the OPRF Concerto Competition. Each year, sophomores, juniors, and seniors in the music program can audition to perform a solo with the orchestra. Outside judges select three equal winners based on their performance. The prize: performing their piece accompanied by a full orchestra. Drucker will perform a Chopin piano concerto, a work designed to showcase the soloist’s musical ability and artistry. Two additional concerto winners will perform with the orchestra later this spring.

For many students, orchestra is about much more than playing music. It’s about teamwork, discipline, and being part of something bigger than themselves. “In most classes, your work only affects you,” Pearson said. “In orchestra, every student’s performance affects the entire ensemble. Students learn collaboration, responsibility, and time management.” Those skills are especially important because many orchestra students balance busy schedules that include athletics, academic teams, and other extracurricular activities. The result is a group of students who are deeply committed to their craft, and to each other. “By the time they’re seniors, we know each other so well,” Pearson said. “It really becomes like a family.”

OPRF’s orchestra program also carries a unique legacy. It is widely recognized as the oldest curricular orchestra program in the country, meaning it was the first high school orchestra program offered as a graded academic class. The program gained national recognition in the 1960s and 1970s and continues to be well known among music educators across Illinois. Pearson credits the program’s success to the strong foundation students receive before arriving at OPRF. “Our feeder middle schools in Oak Park and River Forest do an incredible job,” he said. “The teachers there prepare students so well, and most of them stay in orchestra all four years of high school.”

Community members attending the concerts will hear a range of music, from classical masterworks to lighter selections.

Highlights include the Chopin concerto, Gustav Holst’s “St. Paul’s Suite,” and a lively finale piece called “España.” Another favorite, “Plink, Plank, Plunk,” will feature students playing their instruments pizzicato, plucking the strings like guitars in a playful and energetic performance.

For Pearson, concerts are an opportunity for students to share months of preparation with the community. “It’s a public showing of what we’ve worked on,” he said. “Students love performing and sharing their music with an audience.”

While the program continues to thrive, Pearson notes that the current music spaces were not designed for the size and scope of today’s program. Limited space, aging facilities, and lack of temperature control can present challenges for instruments and rehearsal environments.

Future facility improvements envisioned through the district’s long-term planning process, including Act 3, would provide modern rehearsal spaces and storage designed specifically for performing arts programs.

“Our students are incredibly talented,” Pearson said. “They deserve spaces that match the level of excellence they bring every day.”

Upcoming Orchestra Concerts

Community members are invited to attend the upcoming performances:

• March 25 | 7:00 p.m. | Wind Ensemble & Symphony Orchestra Concert
  Featuring the concerto performance by student pianist Benjamin Drucker.
   
• March 26 | 7:00 p.m. | String & Concert Orchestra Concert

Both concerts take place in the OPRF Auditorium and tickets are available now: bit.ly/oprfpatix

Families, alumni, and community members are encouraged to attend and support these talented student musicians.

“Come hear some great music,” Pearson said. “Our students have worked incredibly hard, and it’s always special to share that with the community.”