strings on the river

We enjoyed the second annual “Strings on the River” performance Tuesday night at the Jacoby Symphony Hall. There are only four schools in Jacksonville with orchestras and they were on display in what is becoming an annual concert. Our seats were great thanks to my son - even though we were on the 3rd level (the Grand Tier,) we were on the very front row "section A." The two elementary schools represented were Pine Forest School of the Arts, Brentwood School of the Arts, the Lavilla Middle School of the Arts and the Douglas Anderson High School of the Arts performing last. I thought the Pine Forest elementary school (pictured above) was very impressive. Their selections included "Simple Gifts" with the students singing one verse, the bluegrass favorites "Bile 'em Cabbage Down & Cripple Creek" and ended with "The Patriot." One student played the Revolutionary War Drum and near the end another student marched onto the stage with the American flag bringing everyone to their feet.

The guest performer with the DA Orchestra, playing the violin for the “Violin and Symphony Concerto” was Mark O’Conner. The concerto was written by O’Conner and lasted about 15 minutes or so. He was awesome! The Douglas Anderson orchestra also played the New World Symphony, Movement no. 4, which is also known as the "Finale from the New World." They closed with the “Orange Blossom Special.” This orchestra was excellent and it was hard to believe they were just high school students. The final selection featured all 300 students in a combined performance of a very emotional arrangement of “America the Beautiful.” What a great concert!