WHS students perform at Melissa Etheridge concert

WHS sophomore Alyssa Gruttadauria performed with Melissa Etheridge and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra during the "Pulse" concert on June 7.

Seven Westlake High School students recently performed as part of the Melissa Etheridge & Contemporary Youth Orchestra “Pulse” concert held June 7 at Severance Hall.

The Contemporary Youth Orchestra (CYO) is comprised of 115 elite high school musicians who perform at Severance Hall. Once a year, they invite a well-known artist and audition a youth chorus to perform with them. The event was part of CYO’s 18-year-old “Rock the Orchestra” series, which has featured Ben Folds, Graham Nash and Jon Anderson of Yes.

WHS musicians who participated were junior Mary Babinski on cello, sophomore Alex Falcone on violin, junior Jade Hawk on bass, freshman Nathan Hsiao on violin, junior Aaron Kim on violin and sophomore Adam Schordock on bassoon. Sophomore Alyssa Gruttadauria performed as first soprano as part of a 50-member choir. Alyssa paid for part of her participation fee through a Westlake Music Boosters grant.

After rehearsing separately for weeks, all parties came together the day before the performance for a rehearsal and question-and-answer session with Etheridge. WHS students had to juggle finals to accommodate the rehearsal and performance schedules.