Stevenson’s Patriot Orchestra performed Giuseppe Verdi’s Overture to Nabucco with the Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) Orchestra at Roosevelt University on Nov. 18.

Stevenson brought over 80 students and was joined by other orchestras in their performance as well.

The performance, which took place at Chicago’s Harris Theater for Music and Dance, was free and open to the public. While the audience consisted of some Stevenson supporters, it was Roosevelt University supporters and a number of general music fans that filled up the entire concert hall, Anthony Krempa, associate orchestra director, said.

Orchestra director Enrique Vilaseco, who is well acquainted with the director of Roosevelt Symphony Orchestra, worked with him to organize the joint performance.

“It’s important for our college, as a part of the community, to give high school students the experience of performing with students at a more advanced level of study,” Henry Fogel, Dean of CCPA, said. “Based on what I heard from many of our students, they enjoyed this experience to work with younger musicians.”

The Patriot Orchestra, Stevenson’s top orchestra, played for about five minutes in a performance totalling nearly two hours. The sheer preparation for that five minute performance, however, took approximately 2 months, the same holding true for the several students who performed solo pieces, Vilaseco said.

Stevenson’s orchestra performed very well and blended perfectly with the Roosevelt musicians, Fogel said.

Once they returned to school, orchestra students celebrated their performance by looking through a slideshow of photos taken throughout the day, which they found to be a nice way to review the day, Krempa said.

“The experience was a great way for us give the students a unique environment to perform in,” Krempa said. “It was really nice to see all their hard work come together during the performance.”

The Patriot Orchestra will be performing the same piece by Verdi again at their annual Winter Concert.

“We’ll be reviewing a video of the performance once we get it and then we’ll reflect on it with the students,” Vilaseco said. “When we do the post concert reflection, it’s a great way for us to get feedback and for everyone to learn how to improve going forward.”