Local junior high orchestra plans to ‘light up New York City’

REXBURG — When Arial Loveland sent an audition tape of her seventh-grade orchestra students to a competition in New York City, it was mostly out of curiosity.

These students are now in eighth grade, and they’re preparing for a life-changing experience — performing at Carnegie Hall.

Loveland has been teaching orchestra at Madison Junior High for five years. In 2022, she realized her seventh-graders weren’t a run-of-the-mill junior high band. It all started with a music festival in Utah, she tells EastIdahoNews.com. The orchestra often competes at festivals in Utah, and this particular group of students won first place.

“But, first place overall. Meaning, they were competing against high school groups and got first place,” Loveland says. “As seventh graders.”

The experience left her wondering how the young musicians would measure up nationally. Curious, she sent a recording of the orchestra’s dress rehearsal for the March 2022 concert and an application to Worldstrides. From there, the recording and application went to a panel of judges, which invited the orchestra to play at Carnegie Hall in April 2024.

The magnitude of the opportunity wasn’t lost on her.

“Making it into the competition is winning,” Loveland says. “Oftentimes, high school groups are accepted. (It’s not often) junior high groups are accepted.”

Loveland acknowledges that the “huge undertaking” of getting over 200 junior high schoolers to New York couldn’t happen without a lot of support from parents, administrators and the community as a whole.

“They have rallied around my students, and I am so grateful for this community. It wouldn’t be possible without them,” she says.

Loveland says 2,000 potatoes have been donated to the orchestra, and they’ll be selling them on Saturday as part of “Octuber Fest,” a potato dinner fundraising event that will be held at the Madison School District office building.

“We’ll use the bus lane for a drive-thru,” she says, “and if you want to get out and stay a while, Teton Shadow Band is donating their time and performing. So you can eat a potato and listen to the band, or you can drive right through and donate to our students.”

Rexburg Arts and the Rexburg Recreation Department are both pitching in to help with the fundraiser, and the orchestra students spent Wednesday morning before classes wrapping potatoes in aluminum foil.

Making the trip happen has truly become a community effort, Loveland says.

“And it’s all because of these students,” she says. “You can’t help but love them when you look in their eyes and hear them play.”

Octuber Fest will be held on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. at 60 West Main Street in Rexburg. Potato dinners can be bought for $12, with kids 5 and under eating free. If you aren’t hungry, donations will be accepted as well.

Another way folks can contribute is by purchasing raffle tickets for Madison School District’s annual car giveaway ($10 per ticket). Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling the school at (208) 359-3310. Just let them know you’d like the proceeds to go toward the Madison Junior High Carnegie Orchestra.

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As an orchestra director, Loveland says her goal is to help kids change the world through “making beautiful sounds.” She has no doubt the orchestra will do just that in April.

“Their light is so bright, they’ll just light up New York City.”