School orchestras provide music for barn dance in Moroni Opera House

BySuzanne Dean

By Maddison Nielson and Suzanne Dean

MORONI—Orchestra students from North Sanpete High School and North Sanpete Middle School produced music for a “barn dance” last Thursday, Oct. 8 at the Moroni Opera House.

Members of the North Sanpete High School orchestra provide accompaniment for a barn dance at the Moroni Opera House on Oct. 8. Photo courtesy Sarah Gunnell.
Members of the North Sanpete High School orchestra provide accompaniment for a barn dance at the Moroni Opera House on Oct. 8. Photo courtesy Sarah Gunnell.

Sarah Gunnell, the orchestra instructor, said the orchestra program has grown significantly since early 2025, when she and 40 students appealed to the North Sanpete School Board to make orchestra part of the regular high school curriculum.

At that time, band was taught during the school day, but orchestra was offered one day per week as an after-school program.

Now, Gunnell said, orchestra is taught during the school day at the high school and an early-morning orchestra class is offered at the middle school. The “zero-hour” class at the middle school counts for school credit.

The second annual barn dance staged by orchestra students was a huge success, according to orchestra instructor Sarah Gunnell.
The second annual barn dance staged by orchestra students was a huge success, according to orchestra instructor Sarah Gunnell.

While the number of orchestra members in the high school is small, the middle school orchestra has doubled from last year, Gunnell said. She expects the high school program to grow as students move from middle school to high school.

This was the second year the orchestras had staged the barn dance. According to Gunnell, “It was a huge success…The entire dance hall was filled with parents, relatives, friends, and neighbors. There were multiple groups playing fantastic music and even a dance caller to call out the different dances.”