Fingers hover mere centimeters above the still-vibrating strings, as the sound resonates throughout the Orpheum’s auditorium. Silence reigns for a moment, then the hall erupts with applause for the musicians.

During their freshmen year, junior violinists Jackson Mu and Angela Qi, junior cellist Ethan Sarkar, junior bassist CeeCee Soderlin, and sophomore violist Phoebe Meade founded this orchestral quintet, Calamari, which has since performed numerous gigs around the Omaha area.

“In orchestra, freshman year, everyone does a chamber music project. We all got together as a group because we were all the first chairs of our sections, so we thought we’d be a really good fit together,” Soderlin said. “From there, Mrs. Martinez kept asking us to do performances for the school and stuff, and so we became an official group and continued the quintet throughout the year.”

Every freshman orchestra student participates in one of these chamber groups, each consisting of 2-8 students who rehearse and perform one song for the class. For most groups, this performance marks the end of their ensemble; for Calamari, it was just the beginning.

“It’s always exciting to have student groups form like this, organically. We’ve had a few over the years, and they just make it look easy,” orchestra teacher Debbie Martinez said.

What had once been simply a small group for a class project quickly grew and transformed, and as they competed and performed in non-curricular events, they took on an autonomy of their own.

“I’m just a facilitator [for the quintet] more or less. Sometimes, if they want me to listen or give them feedback, I do. But otherwise, they’re pretty much a self-run group,” Martinez said.

The group books its own gigs, runs its own rehearsals, and selects its own repertoire.

“We have a set list of songs that we know and can pull out and play any time,” Soderlin said. “We also have a signature piece that we play at all the performances, the one we started with freshman year. It ‘s called ‘Por Una Cabeza’”.

‘Por Una Cabeza’ is the piece that started it all, and they play it at almost every performance; it reminds them of their roots and brings a cohesiveness to every recital, no matter where it may take place.

“One of our biggest performances has been at the Orpheum. We performed for last year’s Chinese New Year’s festival, and we’re going to do that again this year,” Soderlin said.

Playing the Lunar New Year festival was one of the first large-scale performances the group attended, and they were honored to be invited back this year.

“[Playing at the Orpheum] was pretty fun. There were a lot of people there, so being able to showcase what we’ve done was pretty cool. We played one or two pieces there,” Mu said. “The atmosphere, the big crowd, it was a pretty highly-anticipated event [for us]”.

Whether for an immense crowd or an intimate one, the quintet has been received with overwhelming support and applause, most especially in their recent performances in nursing homes.

“[Playing for the nursing home] was really fun, you could tell that the elderly people really enjoyed hearing that kind of thing. [We were there] as a part of an art showcase. Actually, we were supposed to be like the background music, but then they all crowded around and were listening to us,” Soderlin said.

No performance is the same: from a grand stage to a quaint nursing home, Calamari has played in a variety of settings. Additionally, quintet performances vary greatly from traditional full-ensemble performances, requiring Calamari members to learn to embrace adaptability.

“With the quintet, it definitely requires a lot more precision and less room for error [than a full orchestra ensemble]. Obviously, the group is smaller, so there’s less noise to cover up your mistakes, and it requires a little more teamwork and a little more connections,” Mu said .“It’s all about adapting and knowing what everyone needs to do.

To achieve this cohesiveness, team members must have an intricate knowledge of the music, knowing what role each person plays, and a large part of doing so is knowing your bandmates.

“We’re a pretty close community. We have to be close in order to enable teamwork, and I feel like it’s just a big part of being successful,” Mu said. “After practice, or after a performance, we always just hang out together. We grab something to eat, or just always do something fun.”

The group’s camaraderie is one of the most vital components of their ensemble, enabling them to thrive and grow as musicians as they share their talent with their community.

“I hope that we can continue to play for other people, like how we got invited back to the Orpheum this year, and hopefully we can find more opportunities to play more music,” Mu said.