Annual Elementary Orchestra Concert Lets Clarkstown Students Shine

Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack was the setting for Clarkstown's annual district-wide elementary orchestra concert Thursday night.     

"I think (music) helps children develop an outlook, as well as experience joy," said Peggy Brizzolara from the New City Elementary School music department. 

Joy was definitely apparent in the children's faces as they displayed their musical talents for their families and friends sitting in the South auditorium. Kristen Cunningham from Laurel Plains Elementary School in New City has been playing the flute for two years and loves it. Kristen plans on continuing music through middle school. 

Each year outstanding musicians from the Clarkstown elementary schools participate in the orchestra concert.      

"I came to the concert to support my neighbor's little brother who plays the violin," said Clarkstown South graduate Ryan Buchanan. "Music was very important to me growing up, as it is to these kids too. It gave me a sense of identity and gave me something to really focus on. It really helped when I would look out from the stage and see a crowd as big as this one."    

When the fifth-graders played "A Bicycle Built for Two," the talent and hard work of the students and instructors was apparent on the stage.             

"The show was great. It is hard to believe that the musicians are so young," commented James Borchers after the concert. "The soloists in one of the numbers were really impressive, especially the boy on the violin. He demonstrated real potential. It is really valuable for children to find something they love to participate in. For some it's sports or art and for others it is music."                

Art and music are recognized as crucial subjects in the Clarkstown Central School District core curriculum. All Students begin experimenting with instruments in the third grade when they are required to play the recorder. Fourth- and fifth-graders then begin to learn either band or orchestral instruments. Those who excel participate in this annual concert, as well as all-county festivals and NYSSMA Solo Ratings.