The Players for Peace. (All pictures courtesy of Abdel Berraha inc.)
On December 13th, BSGE’s orchestra, the Players for Peace, performed for senior citizens at the Sunnyside Community Center. The 26 member band, which draws from all grades, performed during the school day and played eight pieces they have been practicing after school since the beginning of the year.
7th grader, Elijah K ’18, who plays the violin in the orchestra, commented that the performance “Made you proud of yourself” especially when playing the national anthem because some members of the audience stood up and began to sing along.
Annie C ’18, who also plays the violin for the orchestra, commented that the concert was a “good experience because Ms. Nikkolos wanted me to play a solo but I didn’t want to but we came to an agreement that me and Francesca would do a duet.” The whole experience was also new since she has “performed in school but never outside of school it was pretty cool.”
There is a great mix of abilities and experience in the orchestra. Some of the students just began playing their instruments while others have been playing for years. 
Ben B ’18, who plays the flute for the orchestra and started learning the flute last year, said it was “quite interesting how much my practice brought me to where I was” while performing.
The Players for Peace will be performing again on January 24th at BSGE.
The cost of the program has been supported by the VH1 Save the Music program.
Click here to read more articles about the Music Program from our archives.
Below is a program for the event.
BSGE Orchestra Members
*Michael Xu Piano/Percussion
Stephanie Mach Piano/Percussion
Aayman Abdelatif Piano/Percussion
John Park Piano/Percussion
Luca Bocseri Piano/Percussion
Jensen Li Piano/Percussion
*Alisa Mizukami Percussion
Jenny Lieu Percussion
Richelle Chen Percussion
Gracelyn Chen Percussion
Levanna Wang Percussion
*Benjamin Zhang Trombone
*Seong Ji Oh Clarinet
Emma Keegan Clarinet
Loula Chen Clarinet
*Miles Gamboa Alto Sax
Matthew Farella Alto Sax
*Francesca Tan Flute
Rena Kitagawa Flute
Karen Yeung Flute
Isabelle Mah Flute
Ben Bagbek Flute
*Elijah Karshner Violin
Annika Cheng Violin
Johnathan Wong Percussion
Peyton Heron singer
The program……
“Players for Peace”
The ‘Little’ Symphony of BSGE!
Conductor, Diana Nikkolos
The National Anthem
American Folk Melody
Elijah Karshner, violin solo
America the Beautiful
New York, New York
Miles Gamboa, Alto Saxophone solo
Scarborough Fare
Water Music
Climb Every Mountain
Annika Cheng , violin
Francesca Tan, Flute
Holiday Fantasy
