On May 16, the Upper School Orchestra and members of the Upper School Band will perform at the class of 2024 Baccalaureate ceremony at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas.  

Although the Upper School Orchestra opens and closes the ceremony with the prelude and procession music, respectively, there will also be a chamber group performance that includes the graduating seniors.  

“In recent years, more often than not, we have had a group of seniors that have come together to play a special musical presentation during the service,” Upper School Orchestra teacher Nick Paraskevas said. “This is one of the ways where it’s a little bit more like a service because you have readings, and they alternate it with music.” 

This year, seniors Reyna Diamond, Jadon Lee and Alex Wetzler, juniors Sherry Zhang and Varun Mukund, and sophomores Myra Puri, Aaron Kuang, Shriya Nadagouda and Yichen Shi will perform “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. This differs from the typical classical pieces that are played at Baccalaureate.  

“I’m so happy to play at Baccalaureate again, and performing a pop piece is especially fun since I haven’t had an experience like that in orchestra yet,” said Zhang.  

For the Band, a woodwind quintet comprised of senior Ayne Park, juniors Christan Park and Aditi Vikram, sophomore Sanay Nesargi and freshman Carys Diamond will perform “Rondo Alla Turca,” also known as the “Turkish March,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  

“We performed this piece at [Texas Private School Music Educators Association] Solo and Ensemble, and I’m excited to perform it again for Baccalaureate,” Vikram said.  

Preparation 

Since the Orchestra performs several concerts throughout the year, Paraskevas says the aim is to combine all the repertoire to make a worthy Baccalaureate program for the senior farewell.  

“We typically have two concepts to draw from: the concert that we performed at the [Independent Schools Association of the Southwest Arts Festival] and the concert in early May,” Paraskevas said. “Plus, some of the kids work on chamber music, so we don’t have any difficulties finding 30 minutes worth of good music to play.” 

 “Bohemian Rhapsody,” on the other hand, was chosen by the three seniors in Orchestra, and will be performed for the first time at Baccalaureate. The seniors chose this song because they say it was a cool sounding song and they wanted to pick something that was different from the norm.  

“Since we usually play classical pieces that most people don’t know or can’t recognize, we wanted to choose a song that people would know the melody to,” Lee said. “It’s also just a really fun song to play and perform.”  

Other members of the chamber group say this piece is a good way to showcase the seniors’ ability and highlight their performance. 

“I think playing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ provides a nice contrast to the normal pieces that we play,” Shi said. “We have given the dominant melody parts to the senior violas and let them take leadership and ownership in their last performance with Greenhill Orchestra.” 

Similar to the chamber orchestra group, the woodwind quintet will perform “Rondo Alla Turca” for the first time in concert on May 16.  

“We’ve been practicing for our performance every day in band class, and we feel very prepared,” Vikram said. “I’m honored to be able to play for all of the seniors and their families at Baccalaureate.” 

Senior Farewells 

Ayne Park, who is the only senior Band member that is performing at Baccalaureate, says that having a meaningful send-off is important to give her closure in an elective she’s participated in for so many years.   

“It’ll be really nice to play at the end of year with everyone present,” Park said. “I think it’s more meaningful because I remember I did a lot of performances in front of everyone in Middle School, and this final performance will show my growth after all those years.” 

Similar to Park, many of these seniors have been playing in the Band or Orchestra since Middle School. Paraskevas has worked with some of the graduating seniors for up to eight years, and because of this, he says that Baccalaureate holds a special place in his heart.  

“When we finish playing the pre-Baccalaureate music and our seniors set their instruments down, they find their places among their classmates in the processional line of seniors being celebrated,” Paraskevas said. “It is an emotional moment for me, I will admit. It’s the last time we will have played together as the Greenhill Chamber Orchestra.”