The KHS Orchestra had a successful year winning Gold First Place Honors, Outstanding Group Award, Adjudicator Award, and the Sweepstakes Award (given to the group that scored the highest in their performance) all at the Heritage Music Festival in Atlanta, GA.

Honors like the Sweepstakes Award and Gold First Place Honors allow the orchestra to feature their talents at various other venues in the 2014-2015 season. Places like Symphony Hall in Chicago or Louis M. Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, a trip to London and a trip to Paris are also a few of the choices.

 
“Usually we don’t take those opportunities. One of the trips we hope to take in about three years is to again play at Carnegie Hall,” Patrick Jackson, Symphonic Orchestra director, said. “There could be some things between here and there that we could get invited to that’s not too far.”

 
Despite the fact the orchestra is losing many four year seniors, many are confident they won’t be slowed down. Senior violinist, Amelia Teare, is confident that because of the talent in the other classes, the orchestra might even be able to surpass the accomplishments of this year; not to mention the incoming freshmen.
“I’m not really worried about losing the seniors,” Jordan Zimmerman, freshmen cellist said. “The groups coming up match pretty well, and the returning players are quite good. I’m sad to see the [seniors] go but I’m not nervous about next year.”

 
Looking forward to next year, Jackson is now focusing on student’s auditions in upcoming two weeks. Time is crucial according to Jackson, because this is when he decides what strengths he needs to highlight in the pieces that the orchestra will work on in next years season. But just like Teare and Zimmerman, Jackson is not too worried.

 
“The kids have a standard of excellence that is still just so high for year in and year out. Physically you can come in before a concert and there’s no fooling around. You can tell they really want to come in and play well and still maintain that standard,” Jackson said. “[The orchestra] prides themselves and they want to do really well.”