The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra in Virginia has been awarded the 2013 Community Partner of the Year for its partnership with the Fairfax County Public Schools. The orchestra was honored on May 20 at a Celebrate Partnerships event co-sponsored by the Fairfax County’s Office of Public and Private Partnerships and Fairfax County Public Schools’ Office of Community and Business Partnerships. The FSO’s partnership with the Fairfax County public schools was launched in October 2010 and includes in-classroom band and orchestra instruction by FSO musicians for students in grades 5 through 12, supplementing instruction by schools’ classroom teachers. For younger elementary students, chamber ensembles from the FSO introduce the different families of instruments and incorporate kinesthetic learning activities and core-curriculum concepts into their instruction. At Woodburn Elementary School for the Fine and Communicative Arts, a partner school, students research and create artworks based on concert repertoire being performed by the FSO. Christopher Zimmerman, the Fairfax Symphony’s music director, leads many of the in-school workshops with FSO musicians.
Posted May 31, 2013
