The Sherman Symphony Orchestra has been playing concerts for schoolchildren for 25 years, and this fall's round drew more than 3,000 students from 34 schools to Kidd-Key Auditorium, KXII reported Thursday.
The Children's Educational Concerts are built for fifth graders from both sides of the Red River. According to the symphony, each program walks young listeners through the instrument families of the orchestra, with music by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Copland, a sing-along of the national anthem and a holiday tune the orchestra keeps as a surprise.
Schools receive a lesson to use before the concert and an activity for afterward.
The highlight for a few students is the baton. At each performance, three students are invited up to guest conduct the full orchestra, and KXII showed one fifth grader from Parker Elementary trading her piano for the podium.
"The Sherman Symphony Orchestra has a mission of being able to share music and music education with as many people as possible in as accessible a way as possible," executive director Leslie Whelan told KXII. She also told the station that a live performance is "increasingly special at a time when it's really easy to consume media in different ways."
The symphony says it times the concerts for fifth grade on purpose: many area students choose an instrument to study starting in sixth grade, and the concert lets them hear each one before they decide. Schools reserve seats each September and October.
Christmas Pops moves to Austin College
The orchestra's next public shows are its annual Christmas Pops, set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Sid Richardson Center on the Austin College campus. Last season's Christmas Pops concerts were held at Kidd-Key.
