STRINGS PLUS FESTIVAL

by Judith Silverman

Strings Plus Festival (usually held in late February or early March). This is a chamber music festival including strings playing with strings or any other instruments - for instance strings and piano, strings and wind players or just strings. Double or Triple Concertos with orchestral reduction piano are also performed as are duets, trios, quartets, and quintets. This year there are large ensembles performing - that is, students who will be performing without a conductor but with multiple people on a part. While we know this isn't strictly chamber music we decided it was allowable.

Music ranges from very simple student duos to Brahms, Mozart, Haydn, Borodin quartets - sometimes even contemporary works such as those by Makris and others.Younger children sometimes play arrangements of folk tunes.

The age range is 7 through high school. Groups are arranged by the average age of the group and if possible by the kind of work (trios, quartets, etc). There is a judge in every room writing comments. All groups get a comment sheet mailed to the teacher. Each student gets a certificate and ribbon if they win a prize that day at the festival. Ribbons are generously awarded especially in the younger groups.

Ties are encouraged if there are different kinds of ensembles in the same room. Children who win first place in a group may enter the next year. Comments and booklets of the program are mailed to each teacher entering students following the competition.