The Myers Park Orchestras
The Myers Park Orchestras continue in the fine musical tradtion that was established with the school back in the early 1950's. Myers Park boasts three performing orchestras: The Concert Orchestra, The Repertory Orchestra, and The Chamber Symphony now known as The Myers Park Camerata.
The orchestras' performing season includes four concerts per year. The first concert of each season presents masterworks by master composers such as Beethoven, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, and many others. The second concert of the season is held in December and features seasonal favorites such as Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride. Our third concert returns to the masters as we prepare selections for upcoming contests, and for our last concert of each season, we shift gears and perform music of Broadway, the movies, and other selections in the popular vein.
Myers Park also enjoys a host of musical talent to perform as soloists. Most concerts now feature a concerto as performed by one of our members. These performances have included Lalo's Cello Concerto in D Minor, Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 4 as well as his Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Saint-Saens' Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, and Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy.
Tom LaJoie, Director of Orchestras
Mr. LaJoie is beginning his eleventh year as Director of Orchestras at Myers Park High School. Mr. LaJoie is a native of Charlotte and graduated from Garinger High School seventh in his class. From there he attended Winthrop College in Rock Hill, SC where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance. After his tenure at Winthrop he completed his education credentials at UNCC as a post-baccalaureate student while teaching orchestra in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System.
Mr. LaJoie has continued to remain active as a musician in the community. He has served as Concertmaster for the Charlotte Repertory Orchestra, section first violin with the Salisbury Symphony, violinst with the Charlotte Philharmonic Orchestra, and section violin with the Western Piedmont Symphony. He currently performs on viola with the Charlotte Philharmonic Orchestra and is the first violinist with the Lyric Arts String Quartet. Mr. LaJoie has also played in orchestras accompanying such musicians as Linda Ronstadt, John Tesh, Natalie Cole, and Luciano Pavaroti.
Mr. LaJoie continually works on arranging selections for his orchestras to perform in concerts and at contest. Three of his arrangements have been recently published by two major music publishers. Vivaldi's Concerto in G Major, and Mozart's Symphony No. 29 have been published by Alfred Music Company and have also been performed at major music conferences such as the Midwest Music Conference. This fall Kjos Music Company has released the publication of Mozart's Symphony No. 25 arranged for string orchestra, which was performed by the Myers Park High School Symphonic Orchestra at the Western Region Contest Festival in the spring of 1999.