Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra played at their annual Monsters Ball on Saturday, Oct. 29. Photo by Catelyn Fitzgerald '23.
By Emma Watkins ’23
Managing Editor of Content
A giraffe playing drums, a lion playing violin and a swan playing flute may sound fantastical, but all were a part of the Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra’s Monsters Ball on Saturday, Oct. 29. Orchestra and audience members alike gathered in costume in Chapin Auditorium for a night of music and dancing.
The orchestra began with the “Black Panther Suite” by Ludwig Göransson, featuring prominent drums and a harp solo. After the first number, Orchestra Director and Associate Professor of Music Tianhui Ng welcomed the audience to the event, saying that, “[[This is the]] first time we’ve been able to do Monsters Ball like this since 2019. We’re going to do some dancing!” Audience members were then invited to come to the dance floor for a brief waltz lesson presented by Victoria Schubarg ’26.
Following Monsters Ball tradition, the first waltz played was Austrian composer Johann Strauss II’s “The Blue Danube.” Isabel Myren ’24, co-president of the orchestra, stated that “The Blue Danube” was one of her favorites from the night. “[It’s] just a great piece. … It’s one of those pieces that gets stuck in your head, and it will never go away, and you just start humming it during class. … It’s got so much variety in it, but it’s got enough sticking power to it,” Myren said of her love for the piece.
Dancers dressed in costumes ranging from butterflies to crocodiles, royalty to the Phantom of the Opera — and more — waltzed around the dance floor, accompanied by the orchestra.
Once the waltzing audience members had taken their seats, the orchestra began playing movements from French composer Camille Saint-Saëns’ suite, “The Carnival of the Animals,” beginning with “Introduction and Royal March of the Lion,” “Hens and Roosters” and “Wild Asses: Swift Animals.” Each movement conjured images of the characteristics of each animal, with a regal-sounding “Royal March of the Lion” and crowing sounds of roosters featured in “Hens and Roosters.”
Then, Ng invited the audience to waltz again for Saint-Saëns’ “Tortoises” and “The Elephant.” “The Elephant” highlighted the thunderous double basses to invoke the idea of the movement of the large animals. Next, came “Kangaroos,” “Aquarium” and “Personages with Long Ears.” By this time, many dancers had formed a large circle at the center of the floor to dance together while couples swirled around them.
The orchestra briefly stepped away from “The Carnival of the Animals” with Strauss’ “Emperor Waltz” before resuming with “The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods.” Throughout that movement, a clarinet solo imitated the call of the cuckoo. Continuing with bird imagery, the next movement was “Aviary” which featured flutes as bird calls. The next movement, entitled “Pianists,” caused scattered laughter throughout the audience as the orchestra played variations of scales, demonstrating Saint-Saëns’ sense of humor in including musicians among the animals featured in the suite.
Following “Pianists,” was “Fossils” which used a xylophone to make sounds that Ng described as reminiscent of “dancing bones.”
Returning to Strauss, the orchestra played “Acceleration Waltz” before returning once again to “The Carnival of the Animals” for “The Swan” — which highlighted two cellists — and “Finale.” To close the concert, Ng donned a giraffe costume to conduct music from “The Lion King.”
Despite the challenges facing live music over the last few years, the orchestra has been able to build back to what it was before COVID-19. Speaking about this process, Myren shared, “It’s definitely hectic, but there is also accomplishment with it. For example, we have a full board for the first time in [about] three years. … It’s really cool being part of building something back up. … I’m proud of everything that I’ve done so far.”
“It’s just so enriching to be part of the orchestra — and to go to at least one of the concerts if you’re not in the orchestra just to see what it’s about,” Anna McGrath ’24, co-president of the orchestra, said. “I love orchestral music, and I think more people would love it if they were exposed to it more often.”
McGrath also expressed interest in having more students join the orchestra. “If you’re a player that hasn’t played in a long time, you can still join the orchestra — it’s just a really fun time,” McGrath said.
Ainsley Morrison ’25, a stage manager for the orchestra, also expressed a desire for students to come to orchestra concerts. She explained that one of the orchestra’s goals “is to continue adapting orchestral and classical music to a world that doesn’t necessarily view it in the same way it used to.” She expressed that “people being able to come and see what [the orchestra is] doing and how [they’re] changing things is really important.”
Myren, McGrath and Morrison all expressed excitement about future concerts, especially the operas that the orchestra will perform in the coming spring semester. “I’ve never played an opera. I think most players in the orchestra haven’t played an opera, so it’s a new experience for us and probably a new experience for most of our audience,” Morrison said. This semester, though, students should keep an eye out for the Mary Lyon concert, which McGrath explained, “focuses on music written by women composers.”