3 months after!

It has been three months since we've started and so much has been accomplished already! For starters, we are beginning to put fingers down on the strings!! If you have ever played/taught a string instrument, you know that there is quite a bit to be mastered before that, especially if you are as detail-oriented as we are!

As far as the orchestra goes, our performance on November 10th at the Charleston Library Society was the 3rd in our history. Each time we play in public, we reach higher and higher, and our kids grow more motivated. By now, you can guess that music-making and technique-learning are part of our kids' everyday lives. In a way, that is one of our main goals: to make learning, intellectual and creative activities 'normal', just as it is to eat or, unfortunately, to watch TV.

Starting things off....

On August 24th, 2009, 21 children aged 5-7 first faced their first musical instrument. Violins, violas and cellos were observed, touched and admiration was expressed through noisy plucks. Kidzymphony has now met many times for sectionals, full rehearsals and basic-skills classes in this everyday music program. We even had our first performance on Thursday, 9/17, when the orchestra showed it's focus and knowledge in a way that surprised even its own teachers.

The group is led by teachers Calley Moore (violin), Jill King (viola), Madeline Hershenson (viola, basic skills), Unus-Dián Errandonea (cello) and your writer, Javier Orman (violin, Orchestra Program Director). Kidzymphony is the product of a direct collaboration between the Charleston Academy of Music and the Meeting Street Academy (meetingstreetacademy.org), which provides spaces and a LOT of help.

It's exciting to be writing this, as we face worlds of possibilities that are opening in front of us, and we fulfill expectations from months (years, really) of preparation. This could be overwhelming, but I find it exciting, even thrilling. Check us out again soon, as we'll post updates and pictures regularly.