Getting younger kids involved with music is not an easy task for many. Thankfully, the Pleasant Valley Orchestra program has had a system that has worked for the past couple years.
Rob Swinney, Lauren Deets, David Rosales, and Sara Tinsman are all orchestra directors across the Pleasant Valley School District, and all of them put a collaborative effort into planning the “Orchestra Tour”. This tour showcases students from all over the district, from 6th graders at their respective schools, 7th graders from the 7th grade orchestra, and a small group of high schoolers, playing in a chamber ensemble.
The whole point of this tour is to go around to the elementary schools and try and show the elementary students how cool orchestra, and really any music class is to be in. Junior Emily Preston is a cello player in the upperclassmen orchestra, and was participating in the tour. “It’s great to go to the old elementary schools,” says Preston, “it’s the reason that I joined orchestra in the first place, and now I’m in that position.”
The instructors keep doing this event every year not only to show how cool orchestra is, but also the different types of music that the orchestras play. While most think that this music is limited to Beethoven, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky, the orchestra tour shows that orchestra plays tunes like Apache and Shake it Off. Swinney is the person who selects the music every year. “I pick music that the kids will know,” says Swinney, “It gives them a recognizable melody that they can sing or dance along to, and that’s what makes them want to join.”
This year marks the fifteenth year that students have been plucking their strings and tightening their bows, and everyone hopes to many more!
