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It is remarkable the results the Lansing music teachers get from their students. And it's not easy to make a strings concert sound good, especially with young musicians. The March 22 All-District Orchestra Concert was a triumph for teachers and students alike.
Mrs. Petra Schwarthoff and Mrs. Lynn Weil conducted the 4th Grade, 5th & 6th Grade, Stringquintett, 7th & 8th Grade, High School String, and High School Symphony Orchestras in a one hour program that featured over a hundred student musicians. The concert was held in the Lansing High School gym, because the Middle School Auditorium stage is too small to hold all the musicians.
In Lansing an "orchestra" is comprised of all stringed instruments. Students who play non-stringed instruments play in "bands." Only the High School Symphony Orchestra includes all instruments. After each orchestra played such pieces as Beethoven's "Ode to Joy," "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," and "Duke Ellington!", they all combined for a triumphant rendition of Offenbach's "Finale from Orpheus in the Underworld."
The students played to a full house, with the bleachers filled with enthusiastic parents. As they took their final bow students and teachers alike concluded a concert they could all be proud of.