The De La Salle Zobel Symphony Orchestra (DLSZ Symphony) is an 80-piece orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 that is based in De La Salle-Santiago Zobel School

De La Salle-Santiago Zobel School

The De La Salle–Santiago Zobel School is a Catholic institution for boys and girls located in Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, the Philippines...

 in Muntinlupa City

Muntinlupa City

The City of Muntinlupa is the southernmost city in Philippine National Capital Region. It is bordered on the north by Taguig City; to the northwest by Parañaque City; by Las Piñas City to the west; to the southwest by the city of Bacoor, Cavite; by the city of San Pedro, Laguna; and by Laguna de...

, the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. Its current conductor and orchestral arranger is Leopold F. Sumera, Jr.

History

The DLSZ Symphony was formed in 1984 as an informal musical group, at the urging of Br. Raymond Bronowicz FSC, who was the Director of De La Salle-Santiago Zobel at that time and was tasked to play at important school functions and gatherings. After a few years, it was formally organized into an orchestra by Maestro Leoncio Molino. Since then, it has been known as the DLSZ Symphony Orchestra.

Past Conductors

• Leoncio Molino
• Aguedo Malabanan
• Ryan Hernandez
• Gerardo Fajardo (2003–2004)
• Tom Nazareno (2003–2005)

Assistant Conductors

The Bandleader

Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....

 of the DLSZ Beginning Band is concurrently the Assistant Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra. Past Assistant Conductors include:

• Rodolfo Bangco, Jr.
• Emmanuel Lalunio (2002–2003)
• Tom Nazareno (2003, 2004)
• Melvin Rioveros (2005–2007)
• Nena Chavez (2007–present)

Linwell H. Lalic is the band's brass section moderator.

Composition

The DLSZ Symphony Orchestra is composed of the following sections:

• Reeds
  Reed (instrument)
  A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of most Woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics.-Single reeds:Single reeds are used on the mouthpieces of clarinets...
  
  
• Flutes and Brasses
  Brass instrument
  A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
  
  
• Strings
  String instrument
  A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
  
  
• Rhythms
  Rhythm section
  A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
  
  

The Orchestra has also been broken into the winds and strings sections to make up a concert band

Concert band

A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...

 and string ensemble

String orchestra

A string orchestra is an orchestra composed solely or primarily of instruments from the string family. These instruments are the violin, the viola, the cello, the double bass , the piano, the harp, and sometimes percussion...

, respectively.

Membership

Membership to the Orchestra is open to all high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 students of the school who have been members of the DLSZ Beginning Band or the DLSZ Beginning Strings. These two groups train grade school students in their preferred musical instrument

Musical instrument

A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...

 and prepares them for subsequent membership to the Symphony Orchestra.

Performances

The repertoire of the Orchestra mostly consists of classical pieces complemented by contemporary and popular music

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

.

At present, the Orchestra continues to perform its original mandate of providing music for special events that are held on campus. It also plays at concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

s during De La Salle Zobel's anniversary celebrations in November and at Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

. Prior to the establishment of the school's Center for the Performing Arts, the Orchestra held a year-end concert in March. This has since been replaced by the Center's annual Performing Arts Festival in February, which also features the other performing groups of the school such as the DLSZ Chorale and the Rondalla Ensemble.

Up until 2000, when the school presented annual musicals

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 at theaters off campus, the Orchestra provided live music to the school plays. The last musical to be performed outside of the campus was Teach the World, a play, which was based on the life and times of St. John Baptist De La Salle. In 2004, during the 25th anniversary celebrations of De La Salle Zobel, the Orchestra once again provided music to Act 25, which was a revue

Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...

 of the past productions of the school.

Besides performing at Lasallian schools in the Philippines

De La Salle Philippines

De La Salle Philippines is a network of Seventeen Lasallian Institutions in the Philippines. It was established in 2006 for the unified implementation of the Lasallian Mission, generate creative synergy, and promote the spirit of "One La Salle" among member institutions...

, the DLSZ Symnphony has also been invited to perform in other schools around Metro Manila

Metro Manila

Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...

.

Its rehearsal hall is located at the ground floor of De La Salle Zobel's Angelo King Center for the Performing Arts.