The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra in Virginia has announced that it has signed an agreement with the Fairfax County Public Schools to expand its in-school programs. The agreement—following meetings during which the FSO worked closely with school officials to craft programs that better meet students’ current needs—formalizes and expands a relationship between the two organizations that has existed for more than 30 years. The FSO has expanded SCORE, its existing side-by-side program through which orchestra and band students sit and perform next to FSO musicians, to include elementary students as well as the middle-school and high-school students who are currently served. In the 2010-11 season, grades 2 through 4 are part of the pilot program for this expansion, with a preK-2 program scheduled to be added as part of the FSO’s parks concerts this summer. The FSO is also expanding Overture to Orchestra, its in-school assembly program. “I love conducting these FSO-student orchestras,” said Music Director Christopher Zimmerman in a statement. “The ability to rehearse and perform with professional musicians is a real opportunity for them that I hope will inspire them to consider becoming professional musicians themselves.”
Posted March 16, 2011
