Delaney Cotton

From Left, band sophomore Amber Chu, band senior Valerie Martin and band sophomore Fiona Riso getting ready to play “Haydn Suite.”

On Thursday Oct. 30, The Chamber Winds Fall Concert put on by the band department concluded with a roaring applause. Despite the success of the show the events leading up to the performance were rather nerve wracking.

The day before the performance, band sophomore Kaitlyn Svopa fell ill and couldn’t perform. Fortunately band senior Valerie Martin was willing to take on the challenge of learning Svopa’s part with  such short notice. Working off of less than 24 hours of practice, Martin set aside her nerves and played Joseph Haydn’s “Haydn Suite.”

“I saw the part for the first time [Wednesday]. I think did fairly well, what with it being last minute. I think the other two people in the ensemble did well too because having a last- minute change like that is a stressful thing for everyone involved,” Martin said.

Band sophomore Amber Chu, flautist in the Haydn Suit ensemble, was worried when she found out that Svopa, one of her close friends, was in the hospital. The possibility of the piece being cut only added to the stress.

“At first I was really worried for Kaitlyn; she’s one of my best friends and I heard she went to the hospital,” Chu said. “But when I found out she couldn’t play at the concert that’s when I got nervous. I thought ‘what were not going to play? I worked really hard on this piece.’”

While Martin’s presence fixed the main issue at hand, it didn’t relieve all the pressure of having a musician drop out last-minute.

“It was pretty stressful because she didn’t know how I was going to start the piece and that threw us off and she had to learn everything pretty quickly,” Chu said.

In the end, the ensemble did a lovely job at the concert. Not only did they please their director Mr. Rogovin, but they also entertained the audience.