The concert on March 15  ended in tears for many of the members of the Linfield Chamber Orchestra, but none more so than that of the conductor.

Michael Gesme has conducted the LCO for 10 seasons, and for his tearful farewell, he recited a poem dedicated to each member of the LCO. Gesme was given a three-minute long standing ovation.

“Emotions were high. For everyone on stage, it was hard to hold back the tears. We knew what the last few measures meant to us and to the entire orchestra,” sophomore Christian Santangelo said in an email. “I will hold that experience and those final moments close to my heart for the rest of my life.”

The concert featured the five Concerto Competition winners. The winners included juniors Zach Davis and Jaimie McDonald and sophomores  Tabitha Gholi, Kelsey Garrett and Santangelo. Each musician performed a solo.

The first to perform was Santangelo. He played a percussion number titled, “Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra,” by Darius Milhaud.

Santangelo said that the piece he performed incorporated many different percussion instruments and “it [was] a piece that Maestro Gesme had never heard of so he was very excited to be able to conduct that piece.”

Davis was second to play his piano piece. He performed W. A. Mozart’s “Piano Concerto in D Minor, K. 466.”

Garrett performed third and she played “Marimba solo” by Ney Rosauro.

Fourth to perform was McDonald, who sang a song from the opera “Carmen.” Additionally, she performed “Je dis que rien ne m’epouvante” by Georges Bizet.

The final soloist was Gholi, who played the violin. She played “Csardas” which was originally by Vittorio Monti.

For the final number the entire LCO performed Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36.”

Kaylyn Peterson

Copy chief

Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at linfieldreviewcopy@gmail.com.