by Christian Bailey

Special to the Islands’ Sounder

The Early Morning Strings and the fifth and sixth grade orchestra class traveled to Benaroya Hall to listen to the Seattle Symphony on March 12.

Pamela Wright teaches Early Morning Strings to K-4 graders through Orcas Rec on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Thirty-four students, parents and teachers walked on the ferry and took a bus to downtown Seattle.

The Arts in Education program allowed us to have the pleasure of hearing “Peter and the Wolf” by Sergey Prokofiev. The first guest musician was a violinist named Amelia Sie. She has been playing the violin since age four. Michael Harlow, Orcas Island sixth grade violinist, said his favorite part was “the solo violinist – the 8th grader.” Amelia wore a very fancy gold dress and played so well that I was surprised she was a home-schooled eighth grader. The second guest musician was a bassoonist named Benjamin Roidl-Ward. He has been playing the bassoon since 2004 and is a high school junior from Tacoma. The third and final guest was another violinst named Koyo Kim. She is a junior at Redmond High School and has been playing the violin since she was six. Wylie Kau, Orcas Island 6th grade cellist, was impressed by “how fast the violinist’s fingers moved.”

What surprised Lisa Heisinger, parent chaperone, was the 17-year-old conductor, Alexander Prior.

“I was amazed to find out how young he was,” she said.

Alexander was recently appointed as Seattle Symphony’s Assistant to the Guest Conductors. He was very enthusiastic and professional, explaining and introducing the different pieces and guests.

Special thanks to Mrs. Wright for organizing and making this trip possible, as well as to all the parents who watched over us, and to Ed, the bus driver.

Christian Bailey, age 11, is a homeschool student through OASIS.