On March 4th, OCSA will be participating in the orchestra-district MPA performance from 8:00 A.M.- 10:00 P.M. at Celebration High School. MPA stands for Music Performance Assessment, with grades ranging from 7th-12th. It is a district assessment for orchestra, band, and choir. Each group performs 3 pieces per ensemble in front of 3 judges. The panel gives a rating and a score, then they are scored in sight reading. The judges create an average score from the 3 pieces.
Middle school will be performing the pieces Lady of the Lake by Jeremy Woolstenhulme, Spartacus by Brian Balmages, and March from Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6. The Opus class will be preforming Danse Infernal by Elliot Del Borgol, Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms, and Box Brandenburg No. 4 by Johann Sebastian Bach. The Opus is a work number for a musical composition and/or compositions in chronological order. The High school chamber group will be performing Symphonie espagnole by Lalo Édouard, Rhythm Dances by Brian Balmages, and Adajio from Symphony No. 2 by Rachmaninoff.
The purpose of Orchestra MPA is to test the students on how they’re preforming in their ensembles. “It’s basically the fast testing of music,” says Ms. Rochelle Mabrich, OCSA’s school’s Director of Orchestras. It takes months to prepare for this assessment, and OCSA’s orchestra department has been applying themselves. With practicing in and out of class, the students continue to straighten their strings and tweak their tunes to pass the test.
