Orchestra

The Orchestra is 93-member strong and will be busy preparing great music for a number of performances this year. Our members are part of a dedicated, fun, and hard-working group who have grown together into an amazing ensemble. The Council Rock community is extremely proud and supportive of our entire music program K-12 and are particularly impressed with our orchestra students! The group will be performing at our school for the annual Winter and Spring Concerts and Orchestra Festival, plus will be heard at many venues outside CR South including the Pennsbury Orchestra Festival, Council Rock Orchestra Festival, at the Ocean City Music Pier, at a Phillies Game at Citizens Bank Park, and at three performing venues in Hawaii! Previous performances have included 5 performances at the PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association) Conference in 2006, 2009, 2012, 2014, and 2018 and 5 overseas performances in Scotland (2003), Italy (2007), France and Monaco (2011), Greece (2015), and Spain (2019). The CRSO has also performed at Carnegie Hall (February 2016), the Cherry Blossom Festival (2012), with the Philadelphia Orchestra (2009), at Phillies Games (2011, 2014, 2018), in Baltimore's Symphony Hall (2005), and at the White House (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018). Our pieces for this year include:

New World Symphony ......................................................................Dvorak

Victory at Sea ....................................................................................Rodgers

West Side Story ..............................................................................Bernstein

Variations on a Shaker Melody ......................................................Copland

The Heavens Are Telling ................................................................... Haydn

Concerts for this school year:

Phillies Game National Anthem - September 25

Barnes and Noble (Symphony Orchestra) - December 2, 7:00pm

Winter Concert, CR South - December 15, 7:00pm

Hawaii Theater - April 2

Hawaii Pacific University - April 3

USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor - April 4

Council Rock South side Pyramid Concert - May 5

Ocean City Music Pier - May 7

Council Rock Orchestra Festival, CR South - May 12, 6:00pm

Spring Concert, CR South - May 25, 7:00pm

Senior Recognition Night - June 6, 5:30pm

CROPS

The COUNCIL ROCK ORCHESTRA PARENTS SOUTH (CROPS) is a parent organization designed to support the needs of our orchestra students. Ask anyone associated with the orchestra, and you will know that the orchestra is an exciting, fulfilling experience for both your child and you. This world class orchestra has always had a high level of musical excellence ranking as one of the best high school orchestras in Pennsylvania. The students have a great deal of fun in it with Mr. Simon as they tackle the tough musical challenges presented to them. The orchestra, however, requires much in VOLUNTEER HELP from the parents to function smoothly and successfully not only for fund-raising efforts for performances and trips, but also to help in other activities such as

• Uniform Fitting

• Rehearsal Pizza Parties

• Hayride-Picnics

• Master Sectionals

• Concert Refreshments

• Orchestra Festival

• Trip Chaperones

• End-of-year Banquet

• And More!

CROPS meetings are open to all members and will be held on the following Wednesday Nights in Room A1 at 7:30pm:

Our goal is to achieve 100% membership so that we may continue to support this outstanding group of students. We invite you to become an active participant of CROPS so that you can play an integral role in your son/daughter’s high school musical experience.  You will be well rewarded with their outstanding performances over the coming year.

Please complete the online form https://forms.gle/fV6VgUZfWoeZYx2A8 (Links to an external site.)  and send in a check for $125 per family membership fee. This fee helps to support among other events, the cost of the four pizza parties and will help defray the cost of hiring professionals for our Master Sectional Series. Typically, the cost to run each Master-Sectional is over $1000 each session ($6000 for the Series).

We hope to continue our strong and enriching orchestra program here at Council Rock South. Your participation will help to ensure our students a very enjoyable and fulfilling year ahead. Please return all forms by September 16. 

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you at our next CROPS meeting.  We will be available to answer all your questions at the Welcome Back Meeting on Wednesday, September 7^th.