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hours of ensemble time before the concert,” Golden said. “That said, I think we were more than ready. I think this year’s Hillsdale College Symphony is the best one I’ve played with, and I don’t say that lightly.”

Filep also stated how impressed she was with the freshmen members’ talent.

“I think that the chamber choir is flourishing perhaps in a way that it may not have before,” Filep said. “Especially with the new blood I’m really appreciative of the sheer enthusiasm, focus, and dedication that the freshmen have brought to the music department.”

In addition to the choral pieces performed, the orchestra played Carl Maria Von Weber’s “Overture to Der Freischutz” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 1 in C major, op. 21.”

Golden said his favorite piece to perform was the Beethoven symphony.

“As an orchestra, we were really able to lock in that technique and get the kind of sound that Beethoven would have intended, which is always a challenge in a space like the chapel,” Golden said. “It’s a beautiful venue for a concert, but with an average echo of 4.5 seconds, precise articulation requires unusually high levels of focus.”

For the last section of the performance, both choirs and the orchestra came together to perform “A Musicological Journey Through the Twelve Days of Christmas,” arranged by Craig Courtney. Each day of Christmas had an accompanying orchestral piece from a famous composer.

For the Twelfth Day of Christmas, the orchestra played John Philip Sousa’s “Star and Stripes Forever.” The audience began to clap, following Holleman’s lead.

“I’m the one who just turned to the audience and encouraged them to start clapping,” Holleman said. “The orchestra wasn’t expecting it, I wasn’t expecting it, it was just a spur of the moment decision.”

“Let’s just say the clapping was very unexpected,” Filep said. “However, we were really appreciative that the audience was excited about the piece.”

Golden was a bit worried that the clapping would throw off the orchestra’s tempo.

“The clapping was fun, but that’s always a little dangerous for an orchestra because sometimes the audience has a different idea of what tempo is, and that conflict can sometimes make it hard to hold together,” Golden said.

With the concert finished, both choirs and the orchestra begin working towards next semester’s pieces.

“I think it’s technically a secret at this point, but there’s something really big coming down the pipe for May that you won’t want to miss,” Golden said.