We’ve got strings right here in Calvert County Public
Schools.
I had the pleasure this week of attending the All-County
Orchestra concert this week at the new Calvert County High School
Auditorium. What a beautiful facility
and what beautiful sounds those children made.
I’m really excited about the strings program because, you
see, I’ve never ever had a strings program in my schools before. Ever.
Most school districts begin band instruction in 4th
or 5th grade. Standard band
instruments – flute, clarinet, sax, trumpet, drums. If
they stick with it in high school they generally get some additional options – jazz band, concert band, marching band. I’ve had some schools get special grants to
borrow and teach steel drum bands. That
can be fun.
But violin, viola, cello, bass, it seems like those
instruments make sounds that get into your heart - sounds that give you goose
bumps – tunes that put a tear in your eye.
In Calvert County Public Schools every child has the
opportunity to hold and stroke and strangle and mangle some sound out of a
violin. We let them begin between 4th
and 6th grades. We loan them
an instrument if they don’t have the means to lease or buy one. What a gift to have the opportunity to see if
you like the fiddle without buying one.
So, students at each school get the opportunity from 4th
grade to graduation to play a stringed instrument, to appreciate how they blend
together, to develop an ear for harmony and musical nuance that can’t be
provided in any other environment. We
have to acknowledge that this is all part of group instruction during the
school day with no opportunity for private lessons if one shows a special
talent. Private lessons may be hard to
find.
Bottom line, I loved hearing the orchestras. There was a middle school group and then a
high school group. I assume they were
the first string. I assume they were
good and didn’t have to pull any strings to get selected. Really, I don’t mean to string you along.
They made beautiful music.
Pulled on my heart strings.