A Century of Orchestra
The Upper Arlington Orchestra Program was founded in 1922 by Mrs. Henrietta K. Davis. By 1930 the High School Orchestra performed at a high school assembly, at their annual spring concert, accompanying the Senior Play, a musical show and at Commencement all still under the direction of Mrs. Davis. The 1930 yearbook indicates that an increasing number of students were learning new instruments and there was a growing interest in good music throughout the school. In 1931, a 5th & 6th grade orchestra was started with Miss Schneider as the teacher.
1938
The 1937-38 school year saw Mr. Stefan L. Jones become the new Orchestra Director. For the first time try-outs were held for members of the orchestra. To be eligible, a student must have reached a certain proficiency and this eliminated a number of students, leaving only sixteen members. During the year the orchestra performed for the Junior and Senior class plays and appeared at commencement. There was also a training orchestra, also directed by Mr. Jones which consisted of students in the seventh and eighth grades. They furnished music for several assemblies. They would be eligible for Concert Orchestra the next year as freshmen.
1948
Mr. Jess Freeman took over the orchestra in 1946 after Mr. R.V. Cheney served as both Orchestra Director and Music Department Director starting in 1944. 1948 was a busy year as they played for assemblies, plays and commencement. In addition several students participated in the Ohio Wesleyan Music Festival in April and in O.M.E.A. Solo & Ensemble contest at Denison University. The band and orchestra were honored at a banquet given for them in April by the Orchestra and Band Parent’s Association. The yearbook notes that the orchestra, along with the band hac become important parts of the school program and were steadily building up a fine reputation among the high school music groups of Columbus.
1956
According to the 1955 Norwester, the Upper Arlington High School Orchestra enjoyed one of its most outstanding years yet under the batons of Mr. Robert B. Hightshoe and Mrs. Lois Allen. The successful school year was highlighted by the ninth Annual Spring concert in April. The orchestra was well represented at the Ohio Regional Orchestra in Chillicothe by five members. Two of those members were selected to play in the O.M.E.A. All-State Orchestra during February in Cleveland. Mr. Bob Hightshoe held a B.S. and M.A. from O.S.U. He served as a pilot and aircraft commander in the 8th Airforce during W.W. II. He would later serve as Associate Professor Emeritus and Assistant Dean Emeritus at Ohio State. He was a charter member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra where he played for thirty-three years. Mrs. Lois Allen started teaching in U.A. in 1954. She held a B.S. and M.A. degrees from Ohio State as well. She left in 1956 to become the music supervisor in Westerville Schools. She later taught at O.S.U., and was a Board Member and President of the Women’s Association of the Columbus Symphony. In 1995 she was named Woman of the Year in Upper Arlington.
Late 1950’s-1960’s
1957 saw the opening of the new Upper Arlington High School with Mr. Bob Ginther as the new instrumental director. He would end up serving as Band Director for twenty-three years as well as serving as the Supervisor of Music. The Orchestra would disappear for a few years before appearing again in 1962 with Mr. Mervyn (Bing) Farrar as director. The orchestra successfully accompanied the yearly musicals during this time period. The 1968-69 Symphonic Orchestra (above) performed throughout the year with a Pops Concert in the fall, a Christmas concert, a Winter concert in March and a spring concert in which the junior high orchestras participated. Mr. Farrar was a longtime member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.
1970~1980
The orchestra saw the arrival of Mr. Donald N. Valentine in 1971. A graduate of O.S.U., Mr. Valentine spent four years serving in the US Air Force where he was stationed in Japan. The orchestras under his direction received consistent Superior ratings at O.M.E.A. State Adjudicated Events and saw many members representing Upper Arlington in both Regional and All-State Orchestras. Mr. Valentine became a beloved teacher in Upper Arlington, later serving as a Band Director and Orchestra Director at Hastings Middle School. He spent thirty-five years educating students in the Upper Arlington Orchestra program.
1980~86
In 1980, Mr. John (J.B.) Blevins became the director of Orchestra, a small string only ensemble. During his second year, he was able to have former U.A. Orchestra student Dr. Timothy Russell work with the string students at summer camp. Dr. Russell would later become the Conductor of the award winning ProMusica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus where he still serves as Conductor Laureate. Mr. Blevins directed the group for two years in addition to his band classes and remained a Band Director in the district until 2008. Along with the help of Dr. Russell , Dr. Timothy Muffitt (who would become the next orchestra director,) and middle school directors Don Valentine and Bing Farrar, the number of players in orchestra began to steadily increase. Dr. Timothy Muffitt would leave UA to study at Eastman where he would earn his doctorate. He recently retired as Music Director and Conductor of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and still serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra in addition to numerous other conducting positions
1986~2001
William Boggs continued to grow the orchestra program after becoming Orchestra Director in 1986. At the time he was also Director of Opera Columbus and was able to provide opportunities to perform vocal pieces along with their usual repertoire. Future UA string teacher and senior at the time Nora Carter Calvert shared that rehearsing first period each day for a musical they presented with Opera Columbus was a “wonderful way to start the day.” By 1993 Jones Orchestra conductor John Deliman had begun assisting at the high school and the full orchestra was performing four concerts yearly. Students continued to enjoy the collaborations with Opera Columbus and field trips to hear the opera. In 1997 Julliard trained and Grammy award winning Boggs would leave UA to focus full time on conducting and Deliman would become the new high school Orchestra Director while continuing to teach strings at the elementary level. Under Deliman’s leadership, multiple students began earning membership in both the South Central OMEA Regional and AllState Orchestras yearly. By 1998 there were enough students at the high school to split into two orchestras. Gretchen Zunic, who was hired in 1996 to be the Jones Orchestra Director began working at the high school directing the newly formed String Orchestra.
2002-2010
By 2001, the number of students in the orchestra program in the district had grown enough that two new orchestra teachers would join the staff. Ed Zunic would start in 2001 as the new director of String Orchestra and in 2002 Mrs. Melissa Allen was hired as the new Hastings Orchestra Director as well as assisting at the high school which she continued to do until her retirement in 2020. For most of this time, students at the HS would have two sectionals with the string staff and three large rehearsals weekly. This commitment to smaller group instruction combined with a clear and consistent focus on sequential instruction led to the state and national successes for the high school program. In 2003 under the direction of Mr. Deliman, the Symphony Orchestra would win its first National Orchestra Cup in Branson, MO. In succeeding years, both the Chamber Group and Symphony would win the Festival of Gold in Boston, be named National Orchestra Grand Champions in 2007, perform at Carnegie Hall in 2009 and place 2nd in the National Orchestra Festival at the ASTA Conference in 2014. In addition, the Symphony Strings were invited to perform at the prestigious Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in 2006. Students in String Orchestra and Concert Orchestra (added in 2004) were able to travel and participate twice in the Festival of Seas on trips to the Bahamas winning trophies each time. Symphony was also selected to perform at the Ohio Music Education Conference in both 2002 and 2009.
2010-2022
In 2010 Ed & Gretchen Zunic took over as high school directors. With the help of district string teachers Melissa Allen, Nora Calvert, and later Jordan King the number of orchestras would grow from four to seven. During this time the orchestras would travel to perform in Toronto and at Disney World three times each. In 2014 the Symphony Strings came in second place at the National Orchestra Festival during the American String Teachers Association Conference. Later in the summer of 2014, the same players were invited to tour China as part of the League of Astonishing Strings. In 2016 the Symphony Strings were invited to perform in New York at the United Nations. An invitation would come for all of the orchestra students to perform next to the U.S.S. Missouri during the Festival of States commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. An exclusive Invitation for Symphony Strings to perform at the Stirling Bridge Festival in Scotland in 2020 was unfortunately cancelled during the pandemic. The Symphony Strings were also invited to perform at the Ohio Music Education Conferences in 2013 and 2020. During this time the program sent numerous students to O.M.E.A. Regional and All-State Orchestras. Mr. Chris Lape would join the orchestra staff in the fall of 2018 spending a few years directing Concert Orchestra. As we move into our second century Orchestra is alive and well with over 220 students participating in seven orchestras at the high School.
