More than 100 string students, ages 3-18, performed at EMU 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 EMU 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 EMU’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.

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 EMU’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

EMU’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 EMU.

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.

Ms. Lorcas will be joined by Lori Piitz, piano; Ed Gant, cello; and Pedro Aponte, cuatro, in performing Sonata No. 5 “Spring” for piano and violin by Ludwig von Beethoven, Havanaise by Camille Saint-Saens, three short pieces by Fritz Kreisler and two pieces from Lorcas’ native country, Venezuela.

Maria Lorcas instructs student

Maria Lorcas is in her fourth year as violin instructor in EMU’s Preparatory Music Program. She began her undergraduate studies in Venezuela, later receiving her bachelors and masters degrees in violin performance from Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon universities, respectively.

Ms. Lorcas has performed extensively in both Venezuela and the United States. She has been concertmaster of Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony, Venezuela, first violinist in the Simon Bolivar Symphony, Venezuela, and with the Wheeling, Westmoreland and Altoona (PA) Symphonies. More recently she has performed with the Shenandoah Bach Festival and in orchestras in Charlottesville and Lexington.

Lorcas is a trained Suzuki violin teacher and has been teaching privately and coaching orchestra strings since 1993.

Admission to the recital is free. Donations are welcome for the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music program.

Sixty violin students, ages 4 to 18, will make beautiful music together 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15, in Lehman Auditorium at 草莓社区.

These students study the Suzuki violin approach through EMU

The 22-member Junior Strings ensemble, directed by Sharon M.D. Miller, will open the program with the third movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 by Bach and the "Finale" from Symphony No. 2 in C by Tchaikovsky.

These intermediate string players come from Shenandoah, Rockingham and Augusta Counties, as well as Harrisonburg, New Market, Staunton and Waynesboro. Miller is the administrative director of the EMU where she also teaches Suzuki violin and viola, music education and Suzuki pedagogy courses. She has taught at EMU since 1989.

The string members of the youth symphony will perform three movements of Corelli’s "Concerto VIII" featuring violinists Jessica Peck and Benjamin Roth as well as cellist Nathan Bontrager and Bergen White on harpsichord.

The full orchestra, conducted by Maria Lorcas, will perform Mozart’s "Overture to Don Giovanni," the "Romanian Folk Dances" by Bartok and two movements from Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 7." Seven graduating seniors will be recognized at the concert, followed by a reception for the students and audience.

The Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony consists of 37 members from a three-county area representing 11 public and private middle and high schools. Students are selected by audition.

Ms. Lorcas is in her third season as the youth symphony conductor. She began her undergraduate studies in her native country of Venezuela and later received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music (violin performance) from Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon Universities, respectively.

Lorcas has been teaching privately and coaching orchestra strings since 1993. She is also a trained Suzuki violin teacher, has a studio in the Preparatory Music Program and teaches in the Outreach Project.

The Youth Symphony has been a part of the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music Program since 1990. Musical instruction is given to 310 students in the following areas: (violin, viola, cello, piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, guitar, Suzuki violin), (ages 18 months to 6 years), and the Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra/Junior Strings (grades 4-12), and the Violin Outreach Project (funded in part by
the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Arts Council of the Valley).

Admission to the concert is a suggested $5 donation at the door.