On Monday, February 19th, Brookfield Central’s gym saw its largest congregation of people to date. Surprisingly, it was not due to a sporting event, but a gathering of string players ranging from elementary to high school age students. This was Elmbrook School’s second ever “StringFest”, postponed from the 2022-2023 school year due to an unfortunate snow day. Mr. Fitzpatrick, the conductor for both high school orchestras, says that although the sudden change of events saddened him, he is happy to see how it all paid off this cycle. He goes on to claim, “It was so fun seeing every Elmbrook orchestra together in the same place for the first time in 24 years. I am happy we had this opportunity.”
Even with two years of preparation, there were many obstacles still in the way. Firstly, fitting so many students and adults into a restricted space was tricky. Students also didn’t just need to fit but also needed to be able to see each other to stay together and on the beat. As Mr. Fitzpatrick constantly said before the big day, “Don’t trust your ears.”
Mr. Fitz instead encouraged students to use their eyes, which proved to be a challenge. Even for high school students, looking up at the conductor for the rhythm proved hard after rehearsing in groups small enough to be able to do well just by using their ears. Choosing repertoire also caused a lot of conflict within the orchestras. After sampling a variety of pieces like the theme from Harry Potter, the theme from Lord of the Rings, and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden, the list eventually went on to include entirely different songs. Initially, the concert order would be Strauss’ Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Stravinsky’s Finale from Firebird, and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Due to popular demand and a lack of pop culture, the orchestra protested the list and managed to convince Mr. Fitzpatrick to include Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as the penultimate piece. With the orchestra satisfied and all bases covered, StringFest proceeded as intended.
From the sheer number of people in one space to the sentiments of students and teachers alike, Stringfest was undoubtedly a success. In terms of the music produced, violinist Emilia Sato (‘25) states, “It was such a cool experience seeing all the different orchestras between different schools play together in Ode to Joy! We don’t usually get the opportunity to collaborate in such a way.”
Morale was also very high as Violist Jenny Rachel (‘26) claims, “It was fun and inspiring to play with the little kids.”
To end it all off, concertmaster Bella Krynicka (‘25) shares her final thoughts on this year’s StringFest: “It was so much fun to see all of the younger kids play because you can tell that they’re all excited and a little nervous to be playing in front of a bunch of high schoolers, the same way I was. Getting to see them as the concertmaster of all of the combined orchestras’ was so heartwarming because I realized that I was in the shoes of the ‘scary high schoolers’ that I wanted to impress before. Since elementary school, my perspective has shifted and I now think about how excited I am to see these cute little kids grow in their musicianship.”
