Though she has retired from administrative work this spring, Miller’s legacy will continue through the many children whose talents for and love of music has been nurtured by a variety of vocal and instrumental programs. And for this musician, retirement doesn’t mean giving up teaching and performing — it simply allows her to spend more time doing two of her favorite things with people she enjoys.

“I love to see students progress and grow at whatever level they are at, and being with my fellow teachers and the families here at 91����Ƶ,” she said in a recent interview. “And I look forward to performing with colleagues as well. ‘Retirement’ will allow me more time to do both.”

‘Rich legacy’

Miller’s impact was celebrated during a May reception on campus, attended by former students, parents of students, and those in the music community at 91����Ƶ and from the broader Shenandoah Valley.

“She leaves a rich legacy to 91����Ƶ, our greater community and so many families, generations, in fact,” said Professor James Richardson, music department chair. “So many lives have been touched by Sharon’s spirit of play, music instruction and music-making.”

Miller joined the fledgling Preparatory Music Program at 91����Ƶ in 1989 as a Suzuki viola and violin instructor. It was started in 1988 by Wanda Teague Alger, a 1981 graduate of 91����Ƶ and “a wonderful Suzuki violin teacher” who moved out of the area the same year Miller arrived, she remembers.

Miller helped to start the youth symphony in its first season in 1990, and then because program director from 1992 to the present. Under her leadership, programming expanded to include the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choirs in 1991 (now a separate program); Musikgarten in 1992; expanded instrumental lessons in 1994; and the Harrisonburg City Schools After-School Strings Program in 2002.

The result has touched many young people, including the college students she taught as a member of 91����Ƶ’s music faculty from 1998-2013. The prep music program enrolled 75 students her first year and now has more than 300. The city schools program began with 40 students and now has 210.

Strings in the schools

One clue to Miller’s success has been “quiet persistence,” said her niece Christa Hoover, who has instructed in both programs.

In 2002, Miller wrote a successful grant application, and convinced donors as well, to fund after-school violin clubs. After these clubs expanded to both elementary and middle schools, “she started pushing for curricular string offerings,” Hoover said. “It took years and incremental progress but she never gave up.”

In 2007, HCPS took over funding the program, with 91����Ƶ’s prep music program contracted for administration and staffing. The 2018-19 academic year was the first time middle school string electives were offered.

Like many other music teachers, Hoover has benefited from Miller’s interest and mentorship.

“When I was a directionless college grad, Sharon got me to move here, started me in Suzuki teacher training, gave me work, and has mentored and encouraged me through my early career,” she said. “I love what I do, and she made that happen! And she has tirelessly done this for dozens of other young teachers.”

A search is currently underway for a new program director. Miller is looking forward to “new ideas in programming and marketing,” she said. “I’d like to see the program reach an even broader audience in the future, thinking especially of senior citizens.”

In the meantime, she’ll happily continue her life’s work: teaching, mentoring and performing.

The traditional final concert on campus will also take place, but what better way to show off new skills and enjoy new friendships than to hop on stage with fellow violinist Eric Brubaker ’01 and one of the finest Americana roots bands in the country in front of hundreds of fans at a music festival.

The Steel Wheels Fiddle Workshop is a new addition to the program’s Suzuki Strings Day Camp, now in  its eighth year and typically attracting approximately 30 youth violinists. The strings day camp, from     July 29-July 2 on the 91����Ƶ campus, has a range of classes depending on age and skill level.

Children ages 3-7 have two-hour lessons, while intermediate and advanced students can participate in a longer Day Camp, for ages 12 and under, or Multi-Styles Teen Camp, for pre-college musicians. Both of these camps include the special afternoon workshop, which youth musicians can also sign up for separately.

The collaboration between 91����Ƶ’s preparatory music program, The Steel Wheels, and the Red Wing Roots Festival “came about very organically through a shared vision,” said Megan Tiller ’07, who teaches in the program and has been on the festival staff since its inaugural year in 2013.

Tiller also teaches Brubaker’s daughter in the preparatory music program, and Brubaker himself is an alumnus of the same program, which makes his participation all the more meaningful to young musicians, she said.

Benefits of camp participation are multifold, says preparatory music program administrative director , who also teaches violin. Playing for several hours each day with friends and with different teachers not only motivates and inspires students, but also causes “a new familiarity with their instrument that takes them to a new level,” she said.

The Steel Wheels workshop “will provide a window into what a band does and how they do it,” she said. “And just being around professional musicians, hearing their sound and watching their technique inspires students.”

During the workshop, Brubaker will guest instruct, joined by Trent Wagler ’02 and Brian Dickel, class of ’98. A special performance will be Thursday on campus with The Steel Wheels, followed by a jam session and performance on July 10 at the Red Wing Roots Festival (where fourth band member Jay Lapp joins). Admission to the festival and a t-shirt are included in the fee for students. Parents are offered a reduced-price day pass to the festival.

The deadline for registration is June 4. For more information, visit .

The concert, which is Sunday, March 22, at 4 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium, includes music composed by alumnus Anthony VanPelt, a local musician, composer and teacher, and several alumni musicians joining the ensemble. Alumni, parents of alumni and past conductors of the symphony will be recognized, with a reception following. A $7 donation in support of the youth symphony is requested.

The Youth Symphony includes 42 members with students from Rockingham, Augusta, Shenandoah, and Page counties as well as West Virginia. The Junior Strings ensemble is an intermediate-level group with 13 members from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

Both groups are part of , which was started by Wanda Teague Alger`81 in her local music store. It became a part of the university’s in 1989. The orchestra formed in 1990, partly funded by a grant from the .

For two women who have been involved in the program for years, the opportunity is especially unique.

“It is rewarding to look back and see the hundreds of students who have been involved in the symphony,” says , who has been a violin-viola teacher since 1989, program director since the orchestra’s first year in 1990, and conductor of the Junior Strings ensemble since its inception in 2001. “Most students in our area would not otherwise have the chance to participate in such a group and play some of the great music written for orchestra. And it’s exciting to know that an organization with a small beginning has grown into what it is today and is still vibrant.”

“Some students that have passed through the youth symphony program choose to continue music as a profession,” says , symphony conductor since 2002. “Others move on to different careers, but no matter what path they choose, music remains in their souls and helps them to become better individuals.”

The Program

The program features “Symphony No. 1” by Mozart and several selections from the musical, “Fiddler on the Roof,” played by the Junior Ensemble; and several selections by the symphony, including “Overture to Nabucco” by Verdi; the “Russian Easter Overture” by Rimsky-Korsakoff; and the first movement from the “Violin Concerto in E Minor” by Mendelssohn, featuring soloist Lillian Hughes.

Lillian, a senior at , describes her solo as “mournful” and “wistful,” with a “beautiful soaring melody” and a “virtuosic ending.”

The daughter of Chris and Mary Hughes, Lillian has studied violin for 13 years through the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music Program and been a member of the symphony for six years, serving as co-concertmaster for the past two years. She currently studies with .

She first soloed as a 5-year-old, playing “See the Pretty Flowers” for a preparatory music program spring recital. The experience was memorable, she says: “I remember being horribly nervously beforehand, but it all turned out fine in the end.”

Lillian has gone on to great success in her musical auditions, which have resulted in selections in two All-State Orchestras and one All-State Chorus, four Senior Regional Orchestras, and the Virginia Governor’s Summer School for the Performing Arts. She plans to study music and biochemistry in college.

This special celebration concert will also feature a work written by local teacher and composer Anthony VanPelt, who was a member of the youth symphony for its first five years. The ensemble will perform the first movement from VanPelt’s “New Market.”

In addition, the symphony will perform the winning composition from the New Music for Young Musicians Composers Competition held at James Madison University this year. The chosen work, “Remember Who You Are”, was written by Chris M. Cerreto, a current JMU student.

When the preparatory music department wanted to expand its course offerings, Nguyen began looking for grants. The eventually awarded two digital pianos to launch the weekly lessons for adults. 91����Ƶ bought two more to outfit a full classroom.

Most of Nguyen’s students are over 50 years old, and join the class because such an activity is “on my bucket list.” Nine students enrolled in the first session, with more on the roster for upcoming terms. Many have some instrumental experience from earlier in life, and want to build on previous skills for personal recreation or church participation.

For Barbara Feichtinger, from nearby New Market, the class is “just fabulous.” Like all students, Feichtinger is free to drop the course or take session breaks every seven weeks, but she can’t imagine doing that.

“I’m just inspired to move on,” she says.

director says that part of the department’s mission is “to provide music education for everyone.” For adults who want to learn an instrument, but may be intimidated by one-on-one instruction or prefer more social interaction, group lessons are “a low-key way of doing that” and also less expensive than private lessons, she says.

Each weekly class begins with stretching to classical music.

“That’s one of the reasons why they come and take piano,” says Nguyen. “They want to be relaxed.”

After reviewing techniques taught in previous sessions, the group progresses to playing songs together.

“The group class really meets a need for adults,” says Miller.

Feichtinger agrees. “We all started with music when we were young,” she explains. “We know the value of music, and how therapeutic it is … I really need therapy this year, so I came back to the piano!” Outside of the class, Feichtinger practices her mother’s old “Deep Purple” sheet music for entertainment.

Eventually, the preparatory music department would like to partner with local institutions, such as , that “provide opportunities for development of the person,” says Miller.

Music can provide healing and a constructive mode of expression, she adds.

“I love it!” says Nguyen, who hopes to attract 91����Ƶ students and more local adults to the program. “After classes, I am still full of that teaching energy.”

The goal is educational in two parts: It’s not only for the two groups to learn from each other, but for both to learn from a new audience. An added bonus, of course, is that the audience has an opportunity to experience both groups for the price of … well, nothing.

The Fall Concert to be held at 4 p.m. Nov. 24, is free and open to the public; donations will be collected benefiting scholarships for students in the programs.

Last year, SVCC did not participate in the Fall Concert due to a busy performance schedule.

The show will feature the local singing ensemble’s concert and treble choirs, which will take stage following a performance by the entire 50-person youth orchestra at 91����Ƶ’s Lehman Auditorium.

“Our kids … get to hear the orchestra, and the orchestra gets to hear the choir,” said Joy Anderson, assistant director of the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir, explaining the benefits of the group’s joint concert with the symphony.

“Even though I think there’s a lot of overlap in the audience, it’s a different audience.”

The children’s choir consists of three choirs and two classes – only the eldest two perform during the Fall Concert. The treble choir has about 33 students, typically ages 9 to 14, while the concert choir rounds out to roughly 60 participants, usually 11- to 18-year-olds.

Public, private and home schoolers come from as far as Staunton, West Virginia and Lexington to participate in the group, according to Anderson.

“Most big cities have a civic children’s choir program, but it’s not as typical to have it in more of a small city,” she explained, adding that the SVCC has travelled as far as Italy and Hawaii, and performed at Carnegie Hall and the White House.

“We’re really happy to be performing with the orchestra,” she said. “It’s a nice way to kind of kick off the holiday season.”

The youth orchestra consists of students from 7th to 12th grades, typically, although one particularly gifted 7-year-old is currently involved, according to , administrative director for and manager of the youth symphony.

This year’s orchestra soloist – a position set aside for a high schooler on his or her way out of the program – will be Caleb Schrock-Hurst, a senior at . The symphony includes students from many local high schools, as well as home-schoolers, the occasional middle-schooler and local college students who fill in the blanks.

For some parts, especially the brass positions, high school students at the level necessary to join the group don’t audition, Miller explained.

Courtesy Daily News Record, Nov. 16, 2013

The junior strings ensemble, under the direction of , will play a classical selection by Albinoni and two contemporary pieces. This intermediate-level group has members from Augusta, Rockingham and Page counties.

The youth orchestra will perform a movement of “Symphonie Espagnole” by Lalo featuring Mariette Southard, portions of the “Summer” Concerto by Vivaldi featuring Nathaniel Oberholtzer, the “Overture to Rienzi” by Wagner, Washburn’s “New England Holiday” and “Danzón No. 2” by Marquez.

“A unique feature of the concert will be the Latin American piece “Danzón No. 2” never performed before in this area,” said Sharon Miller, administrative director of the preparatory music at 91����Ƶ. “It is based on the rhythm of danzón, a Cuban dance form, written by the Mexican composer, Arturo Marquez. The work features solos by individual orchestra members as well as sections of the orchestra. Numerous percussion instruments as well piano add to the exciting rhythms and Latin flavor. This is a piece , instructor in preparatory music, heard often while growing up in Venezuela.”

Lorcas conducts the orchestra whose members are from Rockingham, Augusta, Shenandoah and Page counties and West Virginia.

91����Ƶ the soloists

Nathaniel Oberholtzer, violin, and Mariette Southard, violin will be the featured soloists during the evening’s concert.

Oberholtzer is the son of Roger and Doris Oberholtzer. A senior at , he is the class president and is a member of the National Honor Society, the school orchestra and has participated in regional orchestra ensembles. A member of the EMHS Touring Choir, Oberholtzer was chosen for the All Virginia Choir. He has been a member of the youth orchestra for five years and is currently an intern with the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music program as a violin teacher. He has studied violin with Lorcas and , PhD, at 91����Ƶ. After high school, he plans to major in pre-med.

Mariette Southard is the daughter of Michael and Pam Southard. A senior at , she is a member of the National Honor Society and the Tri-M Music Honor Society. Southard is a member of the Turner Ashby Singers, the Chamber Choir and the Wind Ensemble. She has been a member of the youth orchestra for nine years and has been selected by audition for the Senior Regional Orchestra and the All-Virginia Orchestra. An active solo performer, Southard has participated in several honors recitals and competitions. She has studied violin since 1997 through 91����Ƶ’s preparatory music program, currently studying with Griffing. After graduation, Southard plans to study violin performance in college.

A $5 donation is requested at the door to assist in the operation of these groups. There will be a reception for the audience following the concert.

History of Shenandoah Valley Youth Orchestra

The youth orchestra began in 1990 as a strong ensemble and in part through a grant from the . The ensemble grew to a full orchestra in its next season and is the only opportunity for instrumental students to participate in such a group this side of Charlottesville and Winchester.

The preparatory music program has over 400 students enrolled this year in instrumental lessons, and the youth orchestra. Students become members by audition and perform three or four public concerts per year. Rising seniors may audition to play a solo with the orchestra.

Sharon Miller is the program director. Inquiries to the youth orchestra should be made to 540-432-4277 or prepmusic@emu.edu.

More than 100 string students, ages 3-18, performed at 91����Ƶ on May 11. Click here for a slideshow! (Photos by Jim Bishop)

Outside, the rain came down and the thunder boomed.

Inside, the air was also electric as young string musicians struck their bows and family members and friends stormed their applause as the Preparatory Music Program at 91����Ƶ celebrated its 20th anniversary with a group concert May 11 in Lehman Auditorium.

More than 100 string students, ages 3-18, performed music from the Suzuki repertoire. The group included violin, viola and cello students who take lessons in the program.

To help mark the special occasion, the department held a t-shirt design contest. The winning student, Jamie Inouye, 10, is in fourth grade at Waterman Elementary School. Students who bought t-shirts wore them during the concert.

This year, the Preparatory Music Program, part of 91����Ƶ’s music department, has 238 students taking instrumental lessons, 68 in Musikgarten classes (infant to age 6), 11 in Junior Strings ensemble and 33 in the Youth Symphony Orchestra. Sharon M. Miller is program director.

The Preparatory Music Program will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a group concert 4 p.m. Sunday, May 11, in Lehman Auditorium.

More than 100 string students, ages 3-18, will perform music from the Suzuki repertoire. The group includes violin, viola and cello students who take lessons in the program.

Preparatory Music student Jamie Inouye displays her winning-design t-shirt. Photo by Jon Styer

To help mark the special occasion, the department held a t-shirt design contest. The winning student, Jamie Inouye, 10, is in fourth grade at Waterman Elementary School.

Students who have bought t-shirts will wear them during the May 11 concert and at other public events.

The concert is open to the public free of charge. Contributions are welcomed for the Preparatory Music Program.

This year, the Preparatory Music Program, part of 91����Ƶ’s music department, has 238 students taking instrumental lessons, 68 in Musikgarten classes, 11 in Junior Strings ensemble and 33 in the Youth Orchestra.

A Humble Beginning

The program got its start when 91����Ƶ graduate Wanda Teague Alger began teaching Suzuki violin in a local music store in the early 1980’s. A Suzuki piano teacher and Suzuki cello teacher joined her, and she moved her program to 91����Ƶ in 1987.

91����Ƶ bought the business from Ms. Alger in 1988, and the Preparatory Music Program – formally, Shenandoah Valley Suzuki Strings – became a part of the university’s music department.

Scott Hosfeld joined the program in 1989 as director and violin/viola teacher and Sharon M. Miller as violin/viola teacher. At that time, 80 students were enrolled in the program.

The Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra formed in 1990, partially funded by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Maria Lorcas is the present conductor.

The 1990’s decade saw instrumental lessons added in guitar, flute, clarinet and harp. The Junior Strings ensemble was added in 2001 to help educate string students in orchestral playing. Sharon M. Miller is conductor.

Community Outreach

Christa Stoner, an instructor in the preparatory music program’s Musikgarten classes, leads students and parents in a music activity. Learn more about Musikgarten at 91����Ƶ…

An Outreach Violin Project started in 2002 to provide instruction to area low-income students.

This project has been supported for seven years by the Arts Council of the Valley, the Virginia Commission for the Arts for three years and individual donors.

Partnerships with Harrisonburg city schools have allowed lessons to take place on school grounds, and the Music Gallery has supplied compact discs and supplies for the students.

In 2007, the city of Harrisonburg asked 91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Music Program to start string instruction in all four elementary schools. The classes are held after school and are available to all fourth and fifth grade students. Read more about the string instruction program in Harrisonburg schools…

“We view the Preparatory Music Program as a service to the community, providing quality musical opportunities for students of all ages and backgrounds,” said Miller, the administrative director. “It’s been exciting and gratifying to see the growth of the program and to learn of the impact it’s making on students and families.”

More information on the Preparatory Music Program or the concert is available from Miller at 540-432-4200 or at www.emu.edu/music/prepprog.

The program will open with selections from the Junior Strings Ensemble, directed by Sharon M.D. Miller. They will join the full orchestra for an arrangement for an arrangement of the old Shaker song, "Simple Gifts."

The 30-member youth orchestra, directed by Maria Lorcas, will play selections from "The Sound of Music" by Rodgers & Hammerstein, "Orpheus in the Underworld" by J. Offenback and the "Viola Concerto in D Major" by K. Stamitz.

Benjamin Roth, featured soloist

Featured soloist on the viola concert will be Benjamin Roth, son of Ken and Terri Roth of Harrisonburg. The 17-year-old homeschooled senior has played the viola for three years and has taken violin and piano lessons for six years with Joan Griffing and Sharon Miller and has had lessons and master classes with Amadi Hummings, Scott Rawls, Che Hung Chen and Diane Phoenix-Neal.

In addition to the youth orchestra, Roth has played in the 91����Ƶ Community Orchestra 2004-present, the South Central Virginia Senior Regional Orchestra (2005,2006, 2007) and the All-Virginia Orchestra (2007, 2008).

The Shenandoah Valley Youth Orchestra and Junior Strings ensemble are part of 91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Music Program.

A five dollar donation is requested at the door to assist in the operation of these groups.

The city school system is funding a strings instruction program through 91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Music Program, part of the university’s music department. It will begin early October for fourth and fifth grade students at Keister, Waterman, Stone Spring and Spotswood Elementary schools.

Sharon M. Miller, director of 91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Music Program, with violin student Caitlin McAvoy, 14, of Harrisonburg. She is a freshman at Turner Ashby High School who has taken lessons for six years. Photo by Jim Bishop

Initially, between 35-40 students from the four schools will receive one hour of after-school group instruction for a minimal fee.

Instructors in 91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Music Program will teach the weekly classes. The city will provide bus transportation for students following the lessons.

Next year, the program will accept middle school students, fifth through eighth grade.

Successful Outreach Programs

Joan Griffing, chair of 91����Ƶ’s music department, said the school system approved the strings instruction “as a result of the success of 91����Ƶ’s “violin outreach project” begun in 2002 as a way of offering violin instruction to low-income students in the city and county. At the start of 2007, 50 students were taking lessons once a week after school at Stone Spring, Keister and Waterman Elementary and in evening classes at 91����Ƶ.

The outreach project has been funded in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Arts Council of the Valley.

Music Gallery, a Harrisonburg music store, provides many of the CD’s and other supplies that students need, and parents of Preparatory Music Program students have donated used instruments. The evening outreach project will continue along with the new after-school strings instruction program.

“We deeply appreciate the grant funding that makes the outreach program possible, but in the longer-range view, it will be better to have strings instruction as part of the school’s music program,” Dr. Griffing noted.

Bonnie C. Hobson, instructional supervisor for Harrisonburg City Schools, said she is “excited to see this project move ahead” and expressed hope that it will eventually lead to a string instruction program from kindergarten through 12th grade.”

Program Long Time in Coming

Sharon M. Miller, director of 91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Music Program, will administer the new strings instruction program. “This is something that parents and teachers have been requesting for years, and we’re elated to be able to help make it happen,” Miller said.

“91����Ƶ has provided string instruction to the community through the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music Program for many years, because the 91����Ƶ music faculty believe that music can enrich everyone’s life and should be accessible to all,” Griffing said. “The new strings program in the local schools is a wonderful opportunity to continue achieving this mission.”

According to Griffing and Miller, the availability of strings instruction on the elementary school level will offer numerous benefits to students – “The satisfaction of learning a new skill, the enjoyment of making music with fellow students while developing a stronger work ethic and problem-solving skills.”

Griffing believes student participants will gain more appreciation for Virginia’s musical heritage – including bluegrass music – and “will be more likely to appreciate classical music and support the fine arts as adults.

“Studies have shown that students who play an instrument are most likely to appreciate classical music and support the fine arts as adults,” she said. “Strings are an integral part of today’s musical world, from symphony orchestras to movie sound tracks to rock bands.

“Not all families can afford private lessons or an instrument,” she said. “Public school programs like this provide an alternate way to learn to play a string instrument,” Griffing added.

“We’re excited about the potential this strings program has and the opportunity it affords to give back to the local community,” Miller said.

Students may register by seeing their school music teacher or by calling 91����Ƶ’s preparatory music department at 432-4277. An orientation meeting will be held 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24 at Stone Spring Elementary School.

More than 100 young people will take part in a Suzuki violin concert 4 p.m. Sunday, May 13, in Lehman Auditorium at 91����Ƶ.

The students, from 3 to 18 years of age, come from all areas of the central Shenandoah Valley, including Augusta, Bath, Page and Shenandoah counties.

The concert will begin with the most advanced pieces, and more students will be added until all are on stage for the grand finale of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” Maria Lorcas, Jessica Trainum and Sharon Miller are the teachers leading the students, along with teaching intern Megan Tiller.

Most of the students are part of 91����Ƶ’s , a year-round program offering music lessons and ensembles for students of all ages and levels since 1988.

Currently, 320 students are enrolled in various aspects of the program, including Musikgarten (infant – 6 years), the Shenandoah Valley Youth Orchestra and instrumental lessons (violin, viola, cello, piano, guitar, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and harp).

The concert will also include students from the Garth Newell Suzuki Program, Hot Springs, Va., taught by Cynthia Penne of Lexington, Va.

91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Program also has an Outreach Project, an effort to provide string instrument instruction to students who would not otherwise have the opportunity.

Currently, 48 students receive violin instruction at Stone Spring, Waterman and Keister Elementary Schools and at 91����Ƶ. Outreach students will also play at the concert and come from the city of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

In addition to the partnerships with the city schools, the Outreach Project is supported by the Virginia Commission of the Arts, The Arts Council of the Valley and the Music Gallery.

Sunday’s concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Preparatory Music Program at 540-432-4277 or at .

The 25-member orchestra, conducted by Maria Lorcas, will perform “Carmen Suite No. 1” by Georges Bizet and “West Side Story Suite” by Leonard Bernstein. Ashley Wright will be featured soloist on the “Clarinet Concerto” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Jessica Hostetter and Sean Hsu will perform “Concerto for Two Violins” by Johann Sebastian Bach with string orchestra.

Ashley Wright

Ms. Wright, the daughter of Douglas and Kimberly Wright, is a senior at Turner Ashby High School and has played the clarinet since sixth grade. Chosen by audition to perform the evening’s featured solo, Wright has been a member of the Youth Orchestra for four years.

A student of Leslie Nicholas, she was chosen by audition for District Band and the All-Virginia Band and has participated in the George Mason University Honor Band. An active student musician, she served as the TA Marching Knights senior drum major this year, performed in bands that accompanied the school musicals the last four years and is a member of the TA Jazz Ensemble. Wright also serves as secretary of TA’s Tri-M Music Honors Society, and she plans to major in music education in college.

The 17-member Junior Strings ensemble, directed by Sharon M.D. Miller, will perform a variety of music including “Rondeau” from “Masterpiece Theater” by Mouret, a Bach chorale and “Fiddle Fest” by local composer James E. Clemens.

Junior string members are from Rockingham, Augusta, Page and Shenandoah counties and from West Virginia.

The Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra is part of 91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Music Program. The program also includes instrumental music instruction (violin, viola, cello, guitar, flute, clarinet, harp, piano) and Musikgarten (ages birth through 6). Sharon Miller is administrative director for the program that enrolls over 325 students from 6 Virginia counties and West Virginia.

A five dollar donation is requested at the door to assist in the operation of these groups.

Information about the Preparatory Music Program may be obtain from 91����Ƶ’s web site ()or by calling 540-432-4277.

A Suzuki violin concert featuring more than 100 performers will be held 4 p.m. Sunday, May 14 in Lehman Auditorium.

The students, ranging in age from 3 to 18 years, will come from all parts of the central Shenandoah Valley, including Augusta, Bath, Page and Shenandoah counties.

The concert will begin with the most advanced pieces and more students will be added until all are on stage for the grand finale of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”

Teaching Interns to Assist

Instructors Maria Lorcas, Jessica Trainum and Sharon Miller will lead the students, along with teaching interns Bethany Freesen and Julia Long.

The concert will also include students from the Garth Newell Suzuki Program in Hot Springs, Va., taught by Cynthia Penne of Lexington, Va.

Most students are part of 91����Ƶ’s , offering year-round music lessons and ensembles for students of all ages and levels since 1988.

Currently, 350 students are enrolled in various aspects of the program including (ages 18 months – 6 years), the Shenandoah Valley Youth Orchestra and instrumental Lessons (violin, viola, cello, piano, guitar, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and harp).

Outreach Project

91����Ƶ’s Preparatory Program also has an Outreach Project, an effort to provide string instrument instruction to students who would not otherwise have the opportunity. Currently 36 students receive violin instruction at Stone Spring and Keister Elementary Schools and at 91����Ƶ.

Outreach students will be playing in the Suzuki Violin concert and come from the city of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. In addition to the partnerships with the city schools, the project receives support from the Virginia Commission of the Arts, The Arts Council of the Valley and the Music Gallery.

Sunday’s concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Preparatory Music Program at 540-432-4277.

Sixty violin students, ages 4 to 18, will make beautiful music together 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15, in Lehman Auditorium at 91����Ƶ.

These students study the Suzuki violin approach through 91����Ƶ