By Kevin Mittal ’15, Editor 

In January and late April of this year the musicians of the Upper School Orchestra presented sophisticated performances for the whole school. What most of the students watching probably did not know, however, was that the group included players from outside Newark Academy. There were “about three professionals there,” according to Orchestra director Ms. Emelianoff, along with several young musicians who do not attend Newark Academy. While they may seem to the casual observer to defeat the very objective of a Newark Academy ensemble, outside supporters frequently preserve the integrity of music that would otherwise not be playable by Newark Academy musicians alone.

Ms. Emelianoff likes to pick music that is both not “dorky” and appealing to the audience. “Songs can have an emotion to them,” she comments, and to ensure that this emotion is conveyed Ms. Emelianoff must be careful about which instruments play which part, e.g. having a saxophone play a trumpet part. She said that when composers write songs, “They don’t have Newark Academy in their mind; rather, they are writing from the heart.” By changing the color of the instruments–by having some instruments play other parts–the emotion can be squandered.

Professionals are called in to help on parts that may be struggling or for which there are no Newark Academy students. Ms. Emelianoff explained that her main intention is not to try to put on a professional performance, but rather to remain truthful to the music. Ms. E has “never had a professional be a soloist” and has “never double[d] a perfectly competent student” proving her desire to allow student musicians shine without destroying the integrity of the music.

What is the music that she tries to remain truthful to? “I pick music for the best musicians” she says, and then describes how she attempts to bring the rest of the players to that level. The music she picks though, does have restrictions. Trombonist Kevin Jiang `15 said, “We have a small school, so we have a smaller pool to pull from.” He brings up an essential point that Ms. Emelianoff also emphasized. The Upper School student body numbers just over four hundred, and it is difficult to fill every part. If Ms. Emelianoff were to work exclusively within the confines of student instrumentalists, then many pieces would be simply impossible to play.

Of course, some students have slight doubts about these professional musicians. A commentator who wished to remain anonymous said that “at first, I thought it was a little unfair. Our parents come to see us play, not hear professionals.” Despite this, however, this student added that “Ms. Emelianoff is able to bring our level of playing up to the next level by allowing us to play such challenging pieces.”

While bringing professionals into Newark Academy may seem to silence our students’ own talents, it is clear that they do just the opposite. The professional musicians are meant to enhance the students’ hard work, as well as create an opportunity for students to reach a new level of musical achievement.