(January 21, 2004) -- An audience of about 50 people sat in the Clark amphitheater cuddled up in warm blankets, waiting for the Glendale District Symphony Orchestra to begin playing Dec. 17. As the night sky grew darker, first chair violinist and Hoover student junior Leonard Lee gave the orchestra a concert note “A” to tune. After the musicians finished tuning, the audience applauded as orchestra conductor Craig Kupka came on stage to begin Clark’s third annual December Music Under the Stars concert.

While the audience enjoyed hot chocolate and sugar cookies provided by Clark’s PTSA, the orchestra played a combination of classical and Christmas music from Tchaikovsky’s “Trepak” to “Christmas That Special Time of Year,” a piece with various classic holiday pieces such as “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and “Little Drummer Boy.” While the orchestra played, the weather was so cold that, according to viola player senior Nina Sanchez, “[Students’] fingers were frozen, which made playing the instruments difficult and painful.” This cold weather was the reason why Kupka nicknamed the concert “freeze bowl.”

After a 15 minute intermission, some chamber groups featuring some first chair musicians from both Clark and Hoover convened. Clark students who played in these chamber groups were flute players Sanchez and juniors Ann Jun and Tigran Arakelyan. Jun performed F.R. Doppler’s Nocturne Oppus 19 and Franz Danzi’s Trio Oppus 7 No. 1. This piece was followed by Arakelyan’s and Sanchez’s performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Quartet in D Major Oppus 20 No. 2. After her performance, Sanchez commented, “With people attending this concert from various schools, the audience that attends orchestra concerts at Clark is bigger than the audience that attends Hoover concerts.”

Just before the concert ended, unlike previous Music Under the Stars performances, this year’s concert featured the multimedia productions class’ video of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree.” The video was shown to promote Clark’s annual canned food drive. Prior to the concert Kupka also asked orchestra students to donate to the cause. The donations from the students and their parents contributed to the 1,855 total items that the drive accumulated.

Music Under the Stars concluded with the orchestra’s traditional performance of The Manheim Steamroller’s “Silent Night.” Orchestra conductor Craig Kupka said that he hoped the piece’s melancholic chords could move the audience emotionally. “If you have not found a piece of music that can make you cry,” said Kupka, “you should find one today. Music is so profound that it can affect both the intellect and emotions simultaneously.”