Tumwater students prepare to perform with Seattle Symphony

The third-graders at Peter G. Schmidt Elementary School in Tumwater were mesmerized as they watched a video clip of a performance of “Toreador” from the opera “Carmen.”

“He’s telling them how dangerous it is to be a bullfighter,” explained Rafael Howell, a teaching artist with the Seattle Symphony.

It’s one of several classical songs the students are learning during a 10-week program that will culminate with an audience-participation concert in May featuring about 2,000 Puget Sound region students at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

“We’re excited,” said Mirai Urushidani, 9.

“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun because there’s going to be a lot of people there,” added Mallory McSpadden, 9.

Howell is visiting each of Peter G. Schmidt’s third-grade classrooms for about 40 minutes a week as part of the Seattle Symphony’s Link Up program. Most of the participating schools are in the Seattle area, according to principal Jack Arend.

“Our kids are just jazzed,” he said.

During the program, students learn to sing and play an instrument, such as a recorder or a violin, and then they’ll perform music with the Seattle Symphony from their seats. The program uses curriculum developed by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, Howell said.

The cost for the symphony program and bus transportation to the concert is about $1,500, according to music teacher Marie Williams.

“We received a generous donation from a sister of one of our third-grade teachers for the symphony cost,” she said. “We are paying for buses with donations from parents and a PTO grant.”

Last year, the Link Up program was offered at about 116 schools and served more than 10,000 students. The program has grown every year since its inception four years ago, according to Seattle Symphony’s website.

The goal of the program is to get students motivated about classical music, Howell said.

“They don’t just go listen to an orchestra, they play with it,” he said.

Besides “Toreador,” students are learning Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” Overture, Strauss’ The Blue Danube, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. They won’t know which parts they’re performing until closer to the concert.

But Peter G. Schmidt students say they’re already thinking about the big performance.

“I might be a little bit shy, because there are going to be, like, a lot of people watching us,” Urushidani said.

“I’m like nerve-cited: excited, nervous at the same time,” McSpadden added.

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Tumwater students prepare to perform with Seattle Symphony."