The Wind Ensemble, Philharmonic Orchestra and Pop Performance Ensembles joined forces for the first-ever Portola Proms: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Experience offering two preview shows for elementary students before the main concert on Jan. 24. The event is set to become an annual tradition featuring a unique theme each year, according to instrumental music director Desmond Stevens.

Commemorating its name from the original BBC Proms, a series of music concerts originating in Britain since 1895, Portola Proms reimagined the traditional orchestra concert by merging rock music, instrumental music and vibrant lighting effects to create an unforgettable rock concert experience.

“We struggled with how to present this concert to an audience because a typical orchestra band concert is you sit there, you listen to the piece, you clap and then they play another one,” Stevens said. “We wanted to create an atmosphere that was more like [a] rock concert than a typical classical concert, but we knew having it in our theater would push a lot of students and a lot of the audience to be more polite and wait for the end of songs.”

The concert opened with a brief introduction by Stevens before launching into classic Trans-Siberian Orchestra pieces including “Overture” and “First Snow” in Act I, performed by the Pop Performance band After Hours alongside the orchestra and wind ensemble. Pop Performance band Groundwire took the stage in Act II with “Wizards in Winter,” “Wish Liszt” and the iconic “Faith Noel.” The performance also showcased five violin solos, one cello solo and a quartet.

In order to provide a seamless concert experience, the instrumental department and rock bands began their preparation two months prior to the debut day. They rehearsed for long hours both separately and together, according to Groundwire keyboardist and senior Sara Haidar. 

“For the preparation, a lot of us were frustrated at first because the music was just really hard,” Haidar said. “Obviously, as a member of a rock band we were not used to performing orchestral music. Afterwards, once we started doing group rehearsals it was easier, and it became fun.”

Backstage, the lighting and set team crafted special effects that enhanced the music and visuals of both the instrumentalists and rock band, according to lighting and special effects technician and senior Eowyn Gutierrez. To highlight the rock concert theme, they introduced new textures and lighting fixtures, including truss lighting, backlighting, fog geysers and low-lying fog, which were not used in previous concerts.

“We mostly went off by the mood of the song,” Gutierrez said. “So if there was a more aggressive part in the song, we would go for darker reds, more saturated colors. Sometimes we would go by the story, but it was mostly about the mood. We tried to use as many color palettes as possible to show a wide variety of vision.”

For the rock bands, being in a group dynamic was very beneficial, according to Haidar. Within a collective, people help each other by reminding one another of audio cues, and getting through long rehearsals together, making the experience a lot more enjoyable.

“I hope [the audience] had a lot more fun than they were expecting to,” Haidar said. “I hope it was just something they weren’t expecting, and something they really enjoyed.”