A musician’s dream to play in the orchestra came true for sophomore Tori Gillam received this chance on Apr. 19.

Playing the violin since age four made playing in this orchestra an honor, but for Gillam with this chance came a lot of work.

She went down to San Luis Obispo on Friday Apr. 17 and practiced for the next three days. 
    The group of high school students, who played in the orchestra, practiced nine hours a day to learn the music that would be preformed on Sunday afternoon. The chance to play as a member of the Festival Symphony Orchestra was an experience that she would do again in a heartbeat.

    “It was a really fun experience and I got to meet a lot of great musicians,” said Gillam.

    The group of musicians came from many different towns, but all went through the same process to get to play in the orchestra.

“People all over the country had to audition by recorded CD or tape and only 15 violins were chosen,” said Gillam.

    Before any musician gets accepted, symphony director David Arrivée looks over every CD and application.

    “I listen to everyone’s recording and make notes on how well they play. If a student is accepted, we send them music to prepare. When these students arrive at the Festival, we again hear them play, and seat them in the orchestra based on their performance of the repertoire we will play,” said Arrivée, Symphony Director.

    After being chosen as one of the lucky 15 violinists and the music to prepare with arrives, the hard work begins.

    “One of the songs was 15 pages long and was very exhausting,” said Gillam.

    Gillam spent days practicing the many songs.

    “She practiced an hour a day,” said Julie Gillam, Tori’s mother.

The beginning of practice started at home, but more practice came when she went to Cal Poly.

    “In San Luis Obispo, we had three four hour long practices a day for two and a half days,” said Gillam.

    In the end, all of the hard work paid off, when the group got to perform.

    “Overall, we did very well, I can’t speak for the others, but I know I made one or two small mistakes,” said Gillam.

    In addition to being honored to play in the orchestra, the cluster of high school students were able to listen to performances by the Cal Poly Symphony, University Jazz band and the Cal Poly Wind Ensemble.

Gillam enjoyed the whole experience and she will audition again next year.