On April 29, Darlington’s instrumental performance groups 6-12 performed at the Rome City Auditorium (RCA) for their Spring Concert.

“We…went to LGPE, or the large group performance evaluation recently. This was [a] performance where judges rated our performances, and we received all superiors,” freshmen mallet player Emma Trieu said.

At LGPE, the upper school band performed some of the pieces they performed at their concert. This allowed them to receive feedback from judges and notes to improve their performances. At Cartersville High School, where LGPE took place, they received the highest rating they could across the board: superior. The band explained that this was especially notable since it was the first time the upper school band had received all superiors in years. The orchestra also said they were hard at work while preparing.

“We [were] preparing for this concert for almost two months…we’ve been practicing for so long, and we played very well in class,” sophomore violinist Grace Guo said.

The groups felt confident since they believed they thoroughly prepared for the concert. In class, both groups practiced their pieces each day they attended. Band students also said they used their office hours to practice with each other. The band and orchestra also missed part of the school day to travel to the RCA, where the performance took place, for rehearsal.

“It was really cool that we got to use the RCA as a venue. I liked how the sound traveled through the venue,” freshman Mae Chen said.

This was the first time in the school year that these groups performed at the RCA. Playing in a professional venue was an opportunity to commemorate their practice throughout the year. Both band and orchestra students said they were excited to use the auditorium because of the acoustics, and they also mentioned that it has a large audience capacity.

“I love how there was a large audience watching us. That was the best part for me,” Trieu said

Students mentioned that audiences tend to be small in the chapel, so they were excited that more people attended their concert at the RCA. They said that it made the concert feel more meaningful since more people could hear their playing.

“I felt very accomplished and very proud of our group,” Guo said.