Langley Orchestra
Author's posts
Apr 28
Congratulations to Students Selected for the All-State Orchestra
Congratulations to Leah Pang, Gemma Shi, Amiliya Smith, and Bennett Huang for being selected to the All-Virginia Orchestra! All four of these musicians were selected through a blind audition process out of a field of hundreds of Virginia’s finest high school musicians. The All-Virginia Orchestra will be performing in concert on April 26 in Richmond.
A heartfelt thank you to our trip organizers Jen Lee and Claudia Peters, whose meticulous planning made every aspect of the trip truly outstanding. Thanks also to our dedicated chaperones: Mayam Ayromlou, Pamela Fox, Farid Homayounmehr (also our trip photographer), Slava Reshetnyak, Raj Rana, Lucy Sang, Masami Smith, and Kelcy Wanamaker.
A very special additional congratulations to senior Amiliya Smith who was selected as cello section leader of the All-Virginia Orchestra! This distinction means that Amiliya is recognized as the top high school cellist in Virginia. Congratulations Amiliya!
Apr 05
New Student Auditions for 2025-26
Langley Orchestra is excited to welcome all string students to the upcoming 2025-2026 school year!
Langley’s orchestra program is comprised of five classes that rehearse separately (Freshman Orchestra, Sophomore Orchestra, Junior Advanced Orchestra, Senior Advanced Orchestra, and audition-only Philharmonic) but often combine into three orchestras for concerts, assemblies, and assessments (Concert Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra, and Philharmonic Orchestra). Advanced Orchestra at Langley High School includes Juniors, Seniors & Philharmonic classes and an honors weighting (+0.5) is added to Advanced Orchestra classes.
New string students coming to Langley High School are automatically placed into their grade-level class. If new students wish to be considered for advanced placement, section seating, or Philharmonic class, they are required to submit an audition by video. The audition will comprise one scale of the student’s choosing (number of octaves and difficulty will be considered – 3 octaves required for Philharmonic) and a short excerpt of a solo piece (1-2 min) that demonstrates the student’s technical abilities. There is no need for special equipment – a video from a smartphone, tablet, or school laptop works fine and piano accompaniment is not necessary. Please be sure to introduce yourself at the beginning of your video. The audition videos can by submitted via this Google Form. Note the entire video including your introduction, scale and excerpt should not exceed 4 minutes in length. The deadline to submit the audition video is Friday, May 9, 2025.
Please use the following method to record your audition videos and copy the link to the Google Form:
- Upload your video recording to YouTube. Video files submitted in other formats will not be accepted. Steps for YouTube uploads can be found here.
- During upload, select the “Unlisted” privacy option. This allows you to still share the video link with us without making the video viewable to the public. More info here. Check the YouTube video link to make sure it works.
- Submit your audition video link via this Google Form (note you need to log into your Google account using non-FCPS email to access this form).
- The link could be included in any of the free response questions such as years playing instrument, and list of instrument activities.
If you encounter any technical problems, please contact webmaster Mrs. Xiaoli Zhao.
Students currently in Langley Orchestra will audition during Langley Links in April after Spring Break – look for an announcement and sign-up information in Schoology soon.
Feb 06
12/10/2024: Call of the Sea Concert
Congratulations to the Langley Orchestra for a successful concert on Tuesday, December 10th! The pre-concert reception featured a “cello choir” performing Hymnus for 12 Cellos, Op.57 (Klengel, Julius). Cellists from the PHilharmonic Orchestra as well as neighboring FCPS High Schools were featured in this beautiful arrangement.
Orchestra students and guests also enjoyed snacks and beverages in Langley Hall before the concert!
The concert featured Langley’s three orchestras, Concert, Symphonic, and Philharmonic. All three orchestra’s performed pieces in line with the theme, including not one but two Pirates of the Caribbean theme songs, Moana, and original composition Calypso Jam. Not only were the pieces fantastic, the speakers were just as amazing. Seniors Geoffrey Yuan, Griffin Knupp, and Syrus Weinberg concluded the night with a knee-slapping skit portraying the trio abducting Doc as pirates executing a mutiny.
Thank you to Riley Seewer for designing the art in the concert program attached below!
Here is a link to the recording if to see it share with friends and family:
A big thank you to all students and orchestra volunteers that helped set up and make this concert happen!
Photos:
