Cary Academy’s first ever concert – October 23, 1997 at West Cary MS.
(Orchestra starts about 30 minutes into the video)
In 1997, Eric Grush was hired as Cary Academy’s first Orchestra Director. Larry Speakman was the first choral director. The school wished to include strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion players and the research showed that a school our size would not support both a Band and an Orchestra program. So, all instruments were scheduled in the same classes – Beginning Orchestra, MS Orchestra, and US Orchestra. Dr. Charles Campbell, retired university music professor, and Ms. Gina Calabria, who also ran the first extended day program, worked part time with the string players while Mr. Grush led the program. We performed 4 concerts during year one, the first at West Cary MS and the other three in building V on the SAS campus.
First CA concert Chorus-Orchestra 10-23-97
End of Year Movie Music Concert – June 10, 1998 at SAS Building V auditorium