Hundreds of students learned about music while watching a Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s outreach effort and performance.
The JCB Adventure Concert series, targeted to third- and fourth-graders, gives children an opportunity to experience a concert, said David Bowden, Philharmonic music director.
The concert series has been offered each year since the Philharmonic’s 1988-89 season.
This year’s concert, at the Judson Erne Auditorium at Columbus North High School, started off with the theme song from “Star Wars.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
“We want you to love making music,” Bowden said to the students in the audience. “It’s OK to cheer, it’s OK to applaud.”
Seventy members of the Philharmonic’s youth orchestra also performed for students during the concert.
Candy Carr, a Parkside Elementary School fourth-grade teacher, brought 198 third- and fourth-grade students with her to the concert.
She hoped the concert would lead students to try out for band in the future.
“For some, this is the only opportunity that they will have to hear a full-blown orchestra,” Carr said.
The concert also was interactive as Bowden had students clap along with him to the orchestra music, while they also were entertained on stage by mascot Phil Harmonic.
Helping students learn about different instruments on the stage such as the violin, harp, clarinet and others and letting them hear what each instrument sounded like also was part of the program. Bowden also encouraged students to pick up and play an instrument they might be interested in and try it for two years.
“Play at least 10 minutes every day to get good,” Bowden said.
Logan Strawn, who has been with the Philharmonic since 2005, said he hoped the concert would inspire students to become musicians.
“It’s like anything else, the more you do it, the better you get at it,” Strawn said.
Anthony Allender, a senior at Columbus East High School who is a member of the 70-member youth orchestra, plays the alto sax and said music in general has different effects on individuals.
“It speaks to people in different ways,” he said.
Bowden also agreed, saying that music can change every aspect of a child’s life. The concert series is one of the most important program he oversees through his work with the organization, he added.
“They’ll be smarter, they’ll be better citizens with full enriched lives and they’ll be better people,” he said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Where to learn more” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The Columbus Indiana Philharmonic office is located at 315 Franklin St.
More information: 812-376-2638 or visit thecip.org.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
