Opus II student orchestra combines talents from several schools in Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs

Abigail Casey has loved playing music since she began taking piano lessons as a young child.

When Casey, 13, a seventh-grader at Oblock Junior High School, reached fifth-grade, she decided to give the cello a try after watching a friend play the stringed instrument and attending performances at Heinz Hall.

“It is a big instrument, and it sounds pretty,” said Casey of Plum.

Casey progressed from beginning orchestra to the advanced group at Adlai Stevenson Elementary and last year was invited to audition for the Opus II Strings Orchestra.

Opus II provides performance opportunities for about 40 students who are string musicians in eastern suburban school districts.

This year's orchestra has 36 members from the East Allegheny, Franklin Regional, Gateway, McKeesport, Norwin and Plum school districts as well as Shady Side Academy in Fox Chapel. There also are two adult members.

Opus II rehearses Tuesdays at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Monroeville. Members are selected after auditions.

The group was founded by Eugene Reichenfeld about 50 years ago as the Wilkinsburg Junior Symphony, said James Buchin, 58, president of the Opus II board of directors. The group was renamed Opus II nearly a decade ago when David Beswarick, a retired East Allegheny School District orchestra director, took over the director's duties.

Mairi Cooper, orchestra director in the Fox Chapel Area School District and chair of the high school music department, has been the Opus II director for five years. Cooper, a finalist for Pennsylvania's 2015 Teacher of the Year, is preparing the group for a classical concert Nov. 23 at the Beulah Presbyterian Church in Churchill.

“I was sort of excited about it,” said Shauna Casey, 37, of her daughter's invitation to audition. “School music programs are slower paced. “It (Opus II) is more challenging.”

Buchin said a major benefit for participants is that they get to play in a “real orchestra.”

Buchin said participants also learn how to follow a conductor's instruction.

Cooper praised the dedication of the young orchestra members.

“They are like sponges,” Cooper said. “They are a great group of kids.

Cooper said she initially signed on as director for a year and enjoyed it so much that she has stayed on.

“I love my job at Fox Chapel,” said Cooper, 46, of Highland Park. “It is the cake, ice cream and whipped cream. Opus is the cherry on top.”

Karen Zapf is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-871-2367 or kzapf@tribweb.com.