Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra and WHS Orchestra join forces for upcoming concert

The Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra and Waltham High School’s orchestra will perform together at a joint concert Wednesday evening, continuing an onstage tradition they started last year. 

Ten members of WPO will join more than 75 WHS students for a program that includes a performance by the school’s rock band, as well as the debut of senior Cody Caballero’s orchestral composition Ascent. 

Caballero’s father Jose, a board member and clarinetist for WPO, first connected the groups two years ago. He said the idea came out of the orchestra’s education and outreach discussions, and a desire to set up a path for WPO’s next generation.

“We felt that it was a great opportunity to raise the new musicians that will be joining the WPO once we sit down or we retire,” Caballero said. 

After approval from WPO’s board and WHS administration, Caballero was introduced to Nathanael Blankenship and Yank’l Garcia, co-directors of the student concert band. WPO members began to attend students’ rehearsals to offer guidance, and joined the students on stage for the first time last year. 

Blankenship, in his second year co-directing the WHS orchestra, said having outside players in the room has a visible effect on students. “When they hear me talk all day long, all year long, they kind of start to tune out,” he said. “And then somebody comes in and says a lot of the same things I say, and the kids’ eyes light up.”

He also said the WPO members offer students a model for how music can fit into adult life outside a professional career. WPO musicians perform as volunteers, and most hold jobs outside of music. “You don’t have to be a professional musician to keep music in your life,” Blankenship said.

Caballero echoed that the partnership is also about showing students that music doesn’t have to end after graduation. “It’s sad when they have so much talent and, because they may not be aware of what’s happening after high school, they just hang up the instrument and don’t play again,” he said.

Wednesday’s program includes Aaron Copland’s “An Outdoor Overture,” performed by the full symphonic orchestra and WPO members, “Way Less Sad” by AJR, featuring the school’s rock bands and percussion ensemble alongside the orchestra, “Northern Legend” by James Curnow and an arrangement of “Amazing Grace” by Sean O’Loughlin, performed by the wind ensemble. There will also be solo features from two seniors, one performing a Haydn cello concerto and another performing on viola.

Caballero feels that the collaboration is the perfect embodiment of WPO’s values. “This is our mission … We don’t get paid. We do this just for the love of art and music and to inculcate the love for music in younger kids.”

The concert begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Waltham High School.