A huge thank you to East Garafraxa Public & Spencer Avenue Elementary Schools for hosting us on Friday (March 8, 2024).
It was so much fun getting to share our love of band music with the students. Our audience did an excellent job participating – from guessing countries and animals that inspired some of our music, to helping out our rhythm section! (And a special shout-out to the teachers that were “voluntold” to help play some instruments as well!)
Students learned about the different kinds of instruments that are typically found in a concert band. They were told the difference between woodwinds and brass, and had the opportunity to hear a little solo from each instrument (potentially inspiring their instrument selection for their future band careers … or so we’d like to hope!)
It was especially meaningful to be back in the schools once again, as the last time we were able to do this outreach effort was March 12th, 2020 (the last OCB event before the first Covid-19 shutdown). Band members had a fantastic day – some taking time off work or re-arranging their schedules in order to be there. It’s always so meaningful to get to share our passion for music with our local youth. Plus it’s a great opportunity to provide a reminder that anyone (age 9-99+) could come join our Beginner Band if interested in learning how to read music and play a concert-band instrument.
Overall – A great way to kick off March Break!
“On behalf of the staff and students of Spencer Ave I would like to sincerely thank you for coming to our school to perform. The feedback has been wonderful as our kids told me about their favourite songs and were excited about the instruments, some of which they had never seen before. Some have told me about the instruments they are going to learn to play in the future. You inspired them.
Thanks for taking time to visit us and share your love of music.”
– Kimberly Dempsey-Jones (Spencer Avenue Elementary School Principal)