“There was a special performance for the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra at F.S.U.’s Ruby Diamond Concert Hall today,” reports Tom Flanigan on Tuesday (5/23) at radio station WFSU (Tallahassee, FL). “That VERY enthusiastic audience not only listened, but also played along with the musicians during the concert. The full-house audience for the TSO’s performance, around 1,200 Leon County fourth grade students. The kids cheered as the event’s master of ceremonies, local musician Del Suggs, gave shout-outs to their individual schools. Symphony Education Director Carol Ann Matthews said, besides the stirring orchestra performance, there was another reason for this audience to be so excited about the event. ‘It is the last week of school for one thing!’ she laughed. ‘But they just did a great job. The kids…they’re just amazing.’ And indeed a big part of the international Link-Up concert program, made possible in part by New York’s Carnegie Hall, includes the students actually playing along with the grownup musicians. This was the second year for the program in Leon County.” Carnegie Hall’s Link Up program with participating U.S. orchestras introduces students in grades 3 to 5 to the orchestra through an interactive educational curriculum and culminating concerts.
Posted May 25, 2017
