Out of all the Arcadia High School Orchestra events, one event stands out as being the most memorable of the year. Arcadia High School’s Orchestra Music Camp is an annual event where orchestra students bond and play music together! Not only do students get coached by professional musicians, but they also participate in unforgettable events such as Mole Night, Skit Night, Unity Night, and much more! Here is a recap of 2023 Music Camp.

Day 1. Music Camp was off to a fantastic start! The students were organized into cabins which are groups designed to make new friends throughout the week. Although the cabins were recently formed, it was not apparent when they played the games Three-legged Race, Human Knot, and Spud. The day was packed with roaring cheers as the students displayed amazing teamwork to compete against other cabins. After the heated competition cooled off, everyone split into sectionals and practiced with professional music coaches. Each sectional practiced new pieces to perform on day 5 of Music Camp.

Day 2. The day started off with a game of classic Jeopardy. The competition was through the roof as each cabin instantaneously raised their hands when trying to steal another cabin’s points. However, only one cabin could be crowned the winner. After practicing in sectionals again, Mole Night commenced! Mole Night is an Among Us-like game where a chosen mole has to sabotage their group’s success in the activities. Once the group completes the activities, they must rat out the mole. Accusations and finger points were thrown everywhere to try to identify the mole. Some groups succeeded in finding their mischievous mole while others did not.

Day 3. Instead of practicing in sectionals, the students did a full orchestra reading session with Ms. Chen and Ms. Tu! Multiple pieces were sightread at various difficulties, ranging from pop songs to classics like “Can Can.” Afterwards, the students enjoyed playing Just Dance, Pterodactyl, Never Have I Ever, and board games with their new friends. Laughs and smiles filled the orchestra room to the brim while everyone bonded with their new friends and made even more! The joy wafted into Skit Night, an annual event where students perform songs, skits, stand-up comedy, and more. Orchestra Council performed their own skit titled Farrah, an original murder mystery written by Lucas Oh and Cathleen Lu. The eventful night ended with Thick and Nasty, a Skit Night tradition where the presidents of the music programs pour food on each other as everyone screams in disgust!

Day 4. The students began by choosing between three workshops to participate in: leadership, sight reading, or tone/intonation. These are core skills that every musician should master to the best of their abilities. For the next event of the day, the students then split into sectionals to prepare for the upcoming performance. The final event was the annual Cabin Dress Up Competition and Scavenger Hunt! Each cabin used their creative minds to come up with entertaining skits and costumes for everyone to enjoy. These costumes varied from being Bob Ross to “Just Ken.” While wearing their costumes, the students dashed to complete the scavenger hunt faster than the other cabins! Each group was neck and neck as they raced to solve the clues faster than everyone else.

Day 5. Sectionals began for the last time to prepare for the performance. Each section had been working intensely throughout the week to perform the best they possibly could. Now was the time to showcase their hard work. Each performance was received with loud cheers and claps by the audience! Everyone’s hard work paid off successfully and with great praises. After the stellar performances, it was time for the most memorable event in Music Camp by far: Unity Night. Unity Night is an annual event where all performing arts students at Arcadia High School get together; everyone briefly shakes hands and has a one-on-one conversation with each other. Many new connections were made during this unforgettable experience!

2023 Music Camp was a massive success! Although a main aspect of Music Camp is to get professional music coaching, much of it is also spent playing games or having fun at the annual events. More importantly, Music Camp is an amazing place to make new friends for the upcoming school year! If you did not go to Music Camp this year, don’t worry! Music Camp is an annual event that happens the week before school starts, so mark your calendars to make sure you sign up next year!