Avon High School Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Fourth State Title & a New World-Class Facility
Photographer / Amy Payne
The Avon High School Symphony Orchestra will start the school year on a high note this fall, following their fourth ISSMA State Championship win in May.
The Symphony Orchestra is an audition-only varsity group of musicians. During the 2024-25 school year, fewer than 10 of the 110 orchestra members were in ninth grade. The vast majority are juniors and seniors.
Dean Westman, Director of Orchestras and Performing Arts Department Chair, says success takes commitment.
“During sectionals we’ll have evening rehearsals, and we might have our bass orchestra work with a professor from Butler University, or another section work with another experienced musician,” Westman says. “If you were a trumpet player in the marching band and the symphony orchestra, you could easily be rehearsing every single night. For some, it’s a massive time commitment.”
As competition season approaches, Westman says the students will learn a 25-minute program of professional-level classical music you might hear at Carnegie Hall or the Hilbert Circle Theatre.
“The students in the band and the symphony in particular would say, ‘I’m exhausted,’ but I think all of the students would say it’s one of the most rewarding things they’ve done in high school,” Westman says.
Looking back, Westman is proud of how the program has grown to be the largest in the state.
“I founded the program 18 years ago with 38 beginning orchestra students in a utility room in the building that is now Evergreen Elementary,” Westman says. “Today, we have over 1,000 string players, grades 6-12, and the largest high school string program in the state with over 300 students participating at the high school level. We also have five full-time directors and four state championships.”
This fall, they are also celebrating a new facility at the high school, part of a series of projects and additions in recent years.
“I started in an old room that doesn’t even exist anymore, and now we’re sitting in the nicest facility in the country for high school orchestra,” Westman adds.
Not only are the acoustics ideal, they can now fit the entire orchestra in one room.
“We earned three state championships from our former choir room that could fit 75 people,” Westman says. “There were no windows and no acoustics, but we made it happen. Before this facility, the only way we could practice as a full orchestra was by using the band room.”
That partnership between all the musical programs across the district has been invaluable, Westman adds.
“We couldn’t have done it without our band,” he says. “They are busy and use their space all the time, so if they hadn’t made it a priority to allow us to use the space, there’s zero chance we’d be as big and successful as we are now. Now that we have this new facility, we’re able to return the favor. The drum line might use this space to rehearse, for example.”
It’s all part of exposing students to the gift of music and developing their talent. Studies show students involved in music also excel academically, socially and in many other ways.
Westman notes that at the annual Evening of Excellence, held for the top 25 academic students each year, at least half are in the orchestra, band or choir. A year doesn’t go by without a valedictorian, salutatorian or class president who is involved and committed to the program.
It takes determination, dedication and a strong work ethic to juggle grades, extracurriculars and music, but the benefits are worth it.
“Everything is so instant today,” Westman says. “Everything is downloadable. I love that learning a musical instrument is not. You have to do it the same way Beethoven did it. We live in a time where things are all about clicks and ‘likes,’ and music doesn’t allow for that. There’s no app that makes you a great violinist. You have to work hard, break through, get past the challenges and struggles.”
The championship this past May is something to be proud of, but Westman says it’s not the point of the music program. They like getting trophies, but they like inspiring students even more.
He gives his students this example: If he broke his leg and interviewed surgeons to fix it, there would be many excellent options. They would all be smart and have worked hard in school — but for Westman, he’d choose the cellist.
“I don’t know anything about surgery, but I know about musicians, and I know their standard is not just to pass or just get a ‘B.’ They were trying for perfection every time,” Westman says. “It’s not the trophy, it’s the human being these students become when they walk out of here because of music. It’s the intrinsic value they receive from being a part of this.”
The first opportunity to see the 2025-26 symphony orchestra will be this fall at the Symphony for a Dance Floor on Oct. 9. All six orchestras, including the state champions, will perform in partnership with the Avon High School dance program for two performances that evening.
Tickets and information will be available on the Avon High School Orchestras website and Facebook page.
