With five orchestras, Enloe contains the largest high school orchestra in the Wake County Public School System. Each orchestra offers different repertoire on a basis of several different levels. Enloe’s orchestra program is admired widely across the state for the caliber of difficulty and program depth. This year, Orchestra has turned over a new leaf in welcoming a new talented and passionate director to the program, Ms. Alice Ming-Yi Ju!

A former student of Enloe orchestra, Ms. Ju is very familiar with the Enloe environment. During her own four years as a member of orchestra, she was taught by Enloe’s beloved former director, Ms. Mac. Ms. Mac spent 32 years shaping orchestra to the level it is at today, and pushed every student to be the best they could be.  Her dedication to orchestra is something that will always be remembered and admired at Enloe. After her retirement last spring, who better to continue Orchestra’s legacy than Ms. Ju, a talented Enloe alum and conductor of 11 years?  “I feel like it’s familiar, but it’s different.” Ms. Ju relates. “A lot of things haven’t changed!”

With the return to in-person learning, Ms. Ju has many ideas for where she wants to take the Orchestra in her time here. While she believes it is important to challenge Orchestra and to play pieces which maintain the high-level of rigor Enloe’s Orchestra has been known to do, Ms. Ju’s main goal is for students “to experience different composers, different cultures, [and] play with different people.” She hopes that students will enjoy Orchestra through creating a family-like environment which will allow for a “break from your academic rigor” which a lot of students at Enloe take on.

Ms. Ju also has an important goal that she would like to achieve- more student engagement. “I want to show people that high school is actually a lot of fun, you learn in a fun environment and you get to learn with a lot of friends,” she emphasizes.

 Enloe Orchestra’s first 2021-22 concert took place on October 14th, and it was a success! Each ensemble brought something special to the performance- the varying pieces, the wide range of musicality, everything made the concert incredibly enjoyable: “I think people were a little shocked at our first concert,” Ms. Ju explains. Something that Enloe Orchestra needs is audience engagement. She continues, “We have the caliber, but we need the support. We need the parents and families to show up.”

The next Orchestra concert is on December 14th, 2021 at 6:00 PM in the Enloe Auditorium and students have been preparing for months. Orchestra needs the support of Enloe students and families, so make sure to spread the word and not miss out on experiencing this amazing talent!