By Sarah Hall
shall@salisburypost.com
On Wednesday, third- and fourth-graders at Shive Elementary School enjoyed a little music after lunch along with some show-and-tell.
Their school was one of many stops in a Sept. 21-25 tour by a string trio sponsored by the Salisbury-Rowan Symphony Society. The musicians have spent the week introducing elementary age students to string instruments and classical repertoire as a way of promoting the After-School Strings program.
By today, in the course of one week, violinist Susan Perkins, violist John Pruett and cellist Anne Sellitti will have performed for all 20 of the elementary schools in the Rowan-Salisbury school system.
The Wednesday afternoon concert included the trio performing several short pieces. In between, each musician spoke about his or her particular instrument, and demonstrated it individually. The interactive presentation gave students an opportunity to respond to questions, and ask questions of their own.
The Shive students listened attentively, and the music seemed to have a relaxing effect. When the performance ended, they continued to sit quietly, in no hurry to leave.
Asked what they thought of the show, most students questioned responded with the same phrase: “It was good.”
Third-grader Noah Stamey took it a step further, saying “it was great.”
Noah’s favorite part was when “the violin player ‘did this’ ” he said as he motioned quickly back and forth, as if holding a bow.
Zachary Simpson, also in third grade, concurred, playing “air violin” and indicating that he would like to give violin playing a try.
Third-grader Kaleigh Brigman was partial to the cello, and said that if she could choose to play one of the instruments, that’s the one she would pick.
The After-School Strings Program will be taught on Monday and Thursday afternoons, beginning Oct. 1. Elementary music teacher Karen Franks will teach these classes at Isenberg Elementary School, assisted by Martha Smith, also an elementary music teacher. Classes are open to anyone age 8 and up.
For more information on After-School Strings, contact Education Director Susan Trivette at 704-637-4730 or strivett@catawba.edu.