Notes from Mr. Sundet
These are all common questions asked of orchestra students. Well, there is, in fact, an orchestra at CVCA, and it’s a wonderful class filled with magic and wonder!
CVCA Orchestra director, Mr. Erik Sundet, also teaches at VCA, so he’s always very busy. Yet, he always seems to have time to make us play great music. The “Pops” concert in October is always a fun concert! In December, we have performed, “The Messiah”, as an audience sing-along, followed by our Christmas concert the following week. Last March, the Orchestra played a special concert of movie music including: Pirates of the Caribbean, E.T., Beauty and the Beast, Mission Impossible, and Star Wars. The concert in May always features student soloists.
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Orchestra does a lot of different activities. In recent years, the orchestra has been involved with the STEP Norway Program. In the first few months of the school year, we went to Harry London’s Chocolate Factory, a corn maze, Cedar Point, and the Cleveland Zoo with the Norwegian exchange students. We have also gone to the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, Hale Farm and Village, IMAX, and Tower City. Last year, our CVCA Orchestra sent a group of students to Bergen, Norway for two weeks to play concerts at amazing places and learn wonderful things about the Norwegian culture! Many of us snow skied in the Norwegian mountains, and .jpg)
we have amazing memories of the ferry trip on the beautiful fjords. If you ever have the chance to go to Norway, do it!!!
We also play for CVCA’s graduation ceremony, which requires going to the graduation dress rehearsal, (always a fun field trip!). Every few years, our ensemble goes to VCA to play with and recruit the orchestra students there. In 2009, we had the chance to hear the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra play together at Severance Hall where 2008 CVCA graduate Ryan Fox was featured as viola soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra!
All in all, orchestra is a great way to spend the beginning of your day. The opportunity to travel and play a variety of pieces (Pirates of the Caribbean!) is appealing to many. So, if you’re looking for another way to get your Fine Arts credits, check us out! Hey… YOU could learn to play the string bass!!
