A sea of symphonic sounds from flutes to violas to basses swept the Taylor Performing Arts Center on April 10th, 2025. So follow me (an insider and cellist in orchestra) on reporting how our middle and upper school musicians, led by our Conductor and Instrumental Music Teacher Mr. Robert Anderson, put on the perfect show to welcome spring.
The evening held special significance for the seniors performing in their final concert as Bishop’s musicians. For many of them, it was a night to reflect on years of growth, collaboration, and memorable music-making.
“It’s amazing to look back on four years,” said Bishop’s Chamber Orchestra (BCO) violinist Naveen Vemulapalli (‘25). “Looking at all the time I spent in jazz band and orchestra—it’s been a sweet experience.”
Pianist and double bassist for BCO Sashi Chuckravanen (‘25) felt the rush of emotions come in; “There’s definitely a lot of memories and nostalgia because it’s my last concert.” As she opened the concert’s ensemble section with her Beethoven piano sonata, both her and the audience could feel her heart on stage.
The concert’s diverse program allowed for pianists, small ensembles, as well as middle and upper school chamber orchestras to shine. Younger musicians first had their moment. The middle school orchestra, periodically mentored by available upper school string players, performed a gentle arrangement of the English folk song Scarborough Fair. “Even though it’s simple and very playable by younger students, it’s very beautiful,” Mr. Anderson said. “Even though these students are 11, 12, 13 years old—they’re playing it very musically, so it’s been a real treat to see.”
Middle school alto saxophonist Neil Driscoll (‘31) appreciated the upper schoolers’ addition. “We had more high schoolers, so it’s more reassuring,” he said. “There were some parts of the piece that were lacking—now that we have high school cello players, it feels more full.”
Neil also spoke to the variety of the concert’s repertoire. “The first three [pieces played] are more traditional, while the last one [a contemporary piece by Soon Hee Newbold titled Rock Riffs] feels like it’s from 2024,” he said with a grin.
One standout piece for the upper school orchestra was Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, a lively and technically demanding overture. “It’s cool because it’s a showpiece and flashy for Mozart,” said Naveen. BCO tubist Ryan Zhu (‘25) agreed: “‘Abduction’ is my favorite piece. The final chords at the end with the whole orchestra are really powerful.”
That’s all thanks to Mr. Anderson’s intentional programming. One of the first things he looks for when selecting pieces is that it “has to be a great piece to play,” he explained. “Something by a significant composer and historically important. With the size of our orchestra, that narrows it down to classical composers like Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart… Mozart’s amazing—one of the smartest people who ever lived on this planet—you can’t go wrong.” As a result, the upper school portion of the concert was a magnificent mix of Mozart.
Upon further reflection, BCO violinist Annika Mody (‘27) noted, “We usually have a little more rehearsals… six in total, minus one because of the fires, so it was a little more challenging to get the pieces together in time.” But she continued to note how, “we did a great job considering the difficulty and the time. The fourth movement of Mozart is really pretty and exciting to play. It was all exciting.”
Mr. Anderson further emphasized the value of the preparation process itself. “It’s really important to enjoy the rehearsal process,” he said. “Because 90% of what you do in orchestra is rehearse.” Wise words from a wise conductor.
From piece programming to the actual performance on stage, everything went off without a hitch. After all, “It’s hard to go wrong with classic Mozart,” said Sashi with a smile. And indeed, it’s hard for a Bishop’s orchestra concert to be anything but great, wrapping up the year with a performance that left both the audience and performers with their hearts full.
