Forty young violinists from a Rochester city school got quite the thrill this past week. They are all members of a group called “Strings for Success,” and they are students at School 19 in the city.
The third through eighth graders went to Washington, D.C., and with the help of Congresswoman Louise Slaughter performed at national monuments and the U.S. Capitol.
The program has been around for several years, and now over 100 students are enrolled. Strings for Success is supervised through The Center for Youth in Rochester, and its Executive Director, Elaine Spaull says the program builds not only music skills, but has also resulted in better attendance and higher grades for the students who participate.
Spaull says the students wanted to play their violins inside the White House, but security concerns with 40 violin cases made that unlikely, so the students played some music in front of the White House, as well as other locations. Congresswoman Slaughter says the students also performed in the Congressional Auditorium for her colleagues on the Congressional Arts Caucus.
