by Laura Lane
³It was so cool that we got to play with people better than us,² said Tarosky, an eighth grade violinist. ³It was awesome!²
Members of the East Meadow School District¹s fifth grade orchestras, middle school chamber orchestras and high school string ensembles recently shared an experience of a lifetime when they worked with fifteen members of the American Symphony Orchestra.
The professional musicians worked intensely for a week with students who were split up into sections. This provided each player with individual attention from the orchestra coaches who helped them with their technique and stage presence.
³I¹ve acquired so much more skills in playing the cello from this one event,² said Johnson Ho, an East Meadow High School cellist. ³I learned to read the tenor cleft as well as bowing upward which I learned from a player from the American Symphony Orchestra. He was amazing and while he was working with another section I saw him doing something interesting with his bow. I tried to copy him but couldn¹t, but I¹m going to keep trying.²
The visits by the professional musicians culminated into a performance at the Tilles Center For the Performing Arts with student musicians playing with the professional musicians.
³The purpose was to give the kids a chance to work side-by-side with professionals,² said Lisa McElraevy, the orchestra director at East Meadow High School. ³This lets the kids get a different perspective on their playing, and ideas on how to improve. The music was also more challenging than the music they¹d play in their orchestra class.²
It was also an opportunity for students from the district¹s different schools to share a common passion and enjoy playing together. Ho said he hopes he¹ll have a similar experience next year.
³Playing with the American Symphony Orchestra and Clarke students was just an amazing experience,² said Ho. ³I got to meet other high school cellists as well as professionals. I loved playing with the American Symphony Orchestra.²
Members of the American Symphony Orchestra perform regularly at Lincoln Center and Bard College. They take time out from their professional schedules to work with kids to make great music relevant, accessible, and an enjoyable experience for all kinds of listeners.
When performing with East Meadow¹s student musicians at the Tilles Center they did just that. The approximately 250 kids invited their families and friends and the place was packed with an audience obviously enjoying themselves.
³We do concerts all the time at Lincoln Center and people are polite, but noone screams, these kids made us feel so special,² said Teresa Cheung, conductor for the American Symphony Orchestra. Cheung, who conducted the concert at the Tilles Center was impressed by how quickly the student musicians improved. ³We learned a lot from these children too, like how children learn and what you need to do to communicate with them. Anyone can play notes.²
