On February 28th, 2026, three Canyon Ridge High School students attended a day-long string orchestra festival hosted at Idaho State University (ISU), where they honed their skills as performers and students.
During the day-long festival, CRHS students Adan Venegas Aquino, a senior, Symanthia Jensen, a junior, and Joseph Tluang Za Kam, a sophomore, had the opportunity to learn from ISU conductor Nell Flanders, where they had workshops, section rehearsals, and a final concert in the Jensen Grand Concert Hall at the university’s performing arts center.
The festival ran on February 28th at 10am until 6:30pm, when the concert began. Throughout the day, the high school orchestra students had the chance to hear from several other performers, such as a string duet in addition to a string quintet.
The students were also given time to socialize with each other, letting them meet other musicians from across the state. “I got to meet a lot of really cool and nice people that I really got to know well,” said Joseph Tluang Za Kam, a CRHS sophomore.
Joseph expressed his enjoyment with the festival further, saying, “I think that the overall experience of the invitational was really great, especially with our director Nell Flanders as she helped our tone and rhythm in certain parts of the pieces we had played.” Joseph also reviewed the opportunity as an “Overall 10/10 experience and I would recommend anybody from orchestra to attend the ISU invitational next year.”
“It was a really special moment to connect with string players around the area. I also got the opportunity to meet and rehearse with two very experienced musicians who helped us in sectionals and really took our pieces up a notch,” said Symanthia Jensen, a CRHS junior.
The repertoire for the performance included Two Nordic Melodies by Edvard Grieg, in addition to Tendre Amour by Jean-Philippe Rameau, and concluded with the song Golden from the animated feature film KPop Demon Hunters.
