There’s nothing like a Friday night and classical music! Tonight was the Bi-Co Orchestra concert at Haverford’s Marshall Auditorium. The program featured Dvorak’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53 and Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.The first piece played was the Dvorak violin concerto. Dora von Trentini, HC’18’s was this year’s winner of the Student Concerto Competition. I was blown away by her performance. Dora takes violin lessons with Yayoi Numazawa of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She had a prolific musical career during high school prior to coming to Haverford, winning many awards and attending gifted musician programs. She continues to compete in music competitions, and recently won first place in the college division of the Adelphi Orchestra Young Artist Competition in 2015. As a student, she majors in chemistry and participates in most orchestra and chamber music.

The second piece was the Brahms symphony. Here are my enthnography field notes during the piece:

Wow, that was a nice clarinet duet in the second movement.

Casually side eyeing the people who clap between movements. You’re supposed to clap at the end!

Wow, that first clarinetist is really good. Makes me miss my clarinet…

Those people next to me are here for their friend the percussionist. I see them taking pictures of him.

Oh, I see some of my friends sitting over there.

That girl is definitely on snapchat. Is that a flask I see in her hand?!?

I see my friends in the orchestra! Oh wait, didn’t she quit last semester? Guess she’s back.

Most of the people in the audience look too old to be college students… wonder where they came from.

Ooh, I see my friend hitting on a Haverguy.

Looks at program, huh, there’s a kid from Saint Josephs University playing in our Bi-Co orchestra? Cool.

Awkward switching in the winds sections because there are too many winds and not enough pieces for everyone to play a whole piece.

What movement are we on? I think this is the last one.

Following the concert was a reception with some yummy snacks. I congratualed my friends in the orchestra for their lovely performance, snagged two San Pellegrino, and caught a ride back to Bryn Mawr with three sophomores with a car. The one driving the car went to my high school. Yay high school connections in the Bi-Co!