February 20-22, five students represented Beaver Area at the PMEA Western Region Orchestra Festival.

The festival was held at Richland High School in Johnstown.

Beaver Area students were junior cello player Eric Bouwers, junior violin player Shawn Bouwers, junior viola player Katina Playa, senior tuba player Josh Dahma, and senior flute player Cassidy Ziegler.

Orchestra Director Ms. Caroline Poeggel stated, “I thought everything went very well. The students learned a lot about film scoring from the conductor Mr. Chris Thomas. I am very proud of them for their efforts and the wonderful concert they put together.”

Students had the opportunity to work with guest conductor Mr. Chris Thomas who is a versatile composer from Los Angeles, renowned for the contributions to film, television, theme parks, and video games he’s made.

“As always, participating in a large orchestra has yielded some of the best experiences over the years,” added Eric Bouwers.

In addition to the students’ amazing experience, junior Shawn Bouwers scored high-enough to advance to All-State Orchestra at Kalahari (in the Pocono Mountains) next month.

Congratulations and wonderful job to all who participated in the festival.