Four student composers will have their works premiered by professional chamber orchestra Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra at Lafayette College on Sunday at 3 p.m.
The concert is the conclusion of a lot of hard, detailed work, according to composers Jackson Eshbaugh ‘27, Edgar Lin ‘26, Conrad Tilroe ‘25 and Owen York ‘26.
York will have his piece “Connections” played.
“Before I came here, I didn’t do much notational composition and that’s what this whole process was,” York said. “You have scores for every instrument, like a huge master score. So it’s a lot of fine-tuned, detailed stuff, so that took a while.”
“This is a different level of crazy I would have never dreamt,” said Eshbaugh, referring to his piece, “2nd and Main.” “I’m almost done with my sophomore year, and I’ve composed something that’s being played by an incredible orchestra.”
Tilroe will have his composition “They’ve Hidden the Frogs Where the Pond Can’t Find Them” played and Lin his “The Second Movement.”
The Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra will also incorporate Lafayette student instrumentalists into its number for the concert.
One of these students is Brian Morris ‘27, who plays the flute.
“You don’t really get to see a high level of performance around here that often,” he said. “So to perform at such a high level is definitely going to be exciting.”
Though the concert will feature compositions from student composers, the ability to play famous works such as Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony – and a Mozart piece – has been an added source of excitement for the instrumentalists.
Another student instrumentalist, Maria Soukup ‘26, will play the viola this weekend. Soukup identified Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony as her favorite and a piece she “always really wanted to play with a large group.”
The concert, which will be held in the Williams Center for the Arts, is the culmination of a collaboration between The Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra and the Lafayette music department. The event was mainly organized by an assistant professor of music, Akiva Zamcheck. In conjunction with this collaboration, another concert will be played at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at The First Presbyterian Church in Allentown.
“There are so many people involved, and so many people outside of Lafayette, the conductor and the director and all the other players, and all the audience that will attend the concert in Allentown,” Lin said. “This is definitely a big event. It’s not just about the compositions.”
“I’m very fortunate to have this chance as a beginner,” Lin said.
