Wednesday, October 25, 2006

CHS Orchestra

The Charlottesville High School Orchestra is going to London! At the end of March they have been invited to participate in the Heritage Festival of Music competition at the Royal Academy of Music. The CHS orchestra is outstanding - best in the state, I have heard - and routinely comes home with top honors after competitions. They had a very successful trip to Vienna in 1998, and now orchestra director Laura Thomas has another ambitious trip planned.

As you can imagine, taking an 125 member orchestra to Europe is expensive, and yesterday they had a big event on the mall to kick off the fundraising. The challenge is made greater by the success the orchestra has had in attracting members from all parts of the student body. All students at Clark and Jackson-Via elementaries - schools with higher numbers of low-income students - now learn violin, with many staying with it into middle and high school. And former orchestra member Boyd Tinsley sponsors a program to provide private lessons to those who otherwise could not afford them.

If you would like to learn more about the trip, here is a link.

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