By: Margo Moore
Last December, on the 2nd and 3rd in San Diego, nine Redwood students participated in the CODA honors orchestra competition. For Hayl-Lee and Jessica it was their first time in CODA, and Samuel had gotten in before.
Jessica Shupe, ’23, is a violinist. “I typically don’t practice a lot to be honest, but, for the two weeks leading up to CODA I try to set aside two hours a day to practice which is a lot to me,” she says. Hayl-Lee Gallegos, ’23, plays viola. “My practice habits, I try to practice as much as I can, but I have a job and a lot of after school commitments so it’s hard to find time,” she says.
Samuel Noricumbo, ’25, is a cello player. He says “I try and practice whenever I can and that sometimes depends how much school work allows or other activities like water polo and swim but I try and practice maybe four, five times a week at least.”
The three musicians all appreciated being in such a prestigious group. “It was really great just to, like, get in, and I didn’t think I was going to make it in so I’m just glad I got in,” Hayl-Lee says.
Jessica says that “It was really nice, it’s honestly an honor to be in such an awesome group because there are so many kids who are very dedicated to their instruments and to music.” “It feels pretty good ‘cause it’s a pretty prestigious group and we’ve all worked really hard to get in there,” says Samuel.
The nine Redwood musicians who got into CODA were Sophia Caballes, Rose Candelaria, Mary Castillo, Hayl-Lee Gallegos, Yong Lee, Samuel Noricumbo, Tyler Tomooka, and Zachary Tomooka.
Margo Moore
Margo, 25', is a sophomore at Redwood High School and a second-year journalism student who works as an arts and entertainment writer for the Redwood Gigantea. She also loves to take photos and publish photogalleries. You can reach her at @margo.mo3574@vusd.us
Tags: arts and entertainment, CODA, orchestra
