As winter rolls in, Del Oro’s Music department welcomed the season with its annual Winter concert, a night dedicated to highlighting the talent and artistry of the school’s young musicians. Guests and parents were greeted by senior Timothy Espinoza’s gentle piano music as they entered the auditorium.
“Christmas concerts are always really special,” Espinoza said. “There’s that Christmas vibe, and you get so much nostalgia, and it’s just so special to come together with everyone and perform.”
Band director Daniel Musquez, who is currently on personal leave, attended the concert to support his students.
“For tonight, I’m hoping that everyone listens to each other and watches each other, and just has fun playing music,“ he said.
Del Oro’s Orchestra opened the night with “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” and “Thundersnow!” The two songs were conducted by senior double bassists Alberto Acevedo and Joel Landon Salcido, respectively.
Another senior, cellist Rafael Morales, reflected on the closeness of this year’s ensemble.
“I feel like we really bonded a lot this year, especially with the new freshmen playing together with us,” he said. “Now that I have a cello partner, it feels like we have a bigger group and stronger community.”
Morales added that he hopes to have more moments like this in the future and looks forward to continuing playing music and meeting new people.
“I’m glad everybody had fun and had a good laugh,” he said.
The Advanced band then took over the stage, with senior xylophonist Yesenia Jimenez conducting “Winter Wonderland” and Espinoza conducting “A Cartoon Christmas.”
“I felt a little bit nervous, but very excited because of how much we rehearsed it and how good I knew that they were gonna perform it,” Espinoza said.
The Jazz band closed the night off with “Jingle Bell Rock” and “This Christmas” with solos by senior saxophonist Jonathan Frias and Jimenez, respectively.
Loren Hall, who is currently serving as an interim band director, has worked with Del Oro’s music students the past four years whenever Musquez goes on family leave.
“It’s great watching everybody grow, from being freshman to seniors, and it’s almost kind of sad, when they’re going to be gone,” Hall said. “I love watching the students that were shy actually conducting the songs and actually performing at the same time. That was wonderful.”
“I’m definitely looking forward to being back, and I think I am most excited to work for.. I think just for a festival with Band and Orchestra, and Jazz band is going to do a festival somewhere too this year, so just getting ready to do harder stuff,” Musquez said.
New to band this year is flute player Elisa Rivera Lopez.
“Next semester, I am hoping for a festival to happen,” she said. “I’m going to audition for the Honor band on Monday, and a couple days after that the chairs will be out so I hope that I am part of that.”
Next semester, the Music department plans additional events to showcase student talent through an upcoming festival performance. The coming months will also be the seniors’ final performances with the Band, Orchestra, and Jazz groups.
