Every year, a quad concert is organized to give our young orchestra players from local schools the chance to play at a concert combined with our school’s music program and local schools usually consisting of Brier Terrace Middle School, Brier Terrace Elementary, Cedar Way Elementary, Mountlake Terrace Elementary, Terrace Park Elementary, and Hazelwood Elementary. These school’s contributions to these concerts are something that our school and our community is very thankful for. There are two separate quad concerts, one for band and one for orchestra and include grades 6th to 12th grade. These concerts give elementary and middle school students an opportunity to learn and expand their skills by learning from the high school students from our school. When asked what her favorite part of participating in the quad concerts, freshman Ysa Soriano answered, “It would probably be seeing the elementary and middle schoolers and reflecting on how far everyone’s musicianship has come since then.” The quad concerts are a tradition that strengthens the relationship between the schools in our community, and a learning experience for many students. Olivia Soesatyo, a freshman in the band program, described her favorite part of playing in the quad concerts, “Being able to watch students from all different grades playing music together and also joining in playing.” We are all proud of the musicians that played at the concert, of both our high school students and the elementary and middle school students. Their performances were outstanding and a delight to listen to. The tradition of participating in these quad concerts strengthens our community and is an event that the schools and their musicians look forward to every year, not only to teach and learn, but also to play altogether as a community.
