School hosts Music Festival performers
Hot Springs School District’s summer school program for kindergarten through fourth- grade students hosted performers from the Hot Springs Music Festival Thursday at Oaklawn Visual & Performing Arts Magnet School.
Rick Robinson, artistic director for CutTime Productions, of Detroit, led a group of college students and recent college graduates while performing their classical routines for the 180 students in the school’s auditorium.
Gardner Math, Science, and Technology Magnet School Principal Brenda Seiz said they decided to invite the performers for the summer school program because “we try to do enrichment activities with them in addition to their academics.”
Janice McCoy, director of academic operations for HSSD, said she discussed the partnership with R. Todd Cranson, the new general director of the Music Festival.
Robinson is in charge of the ensemble, “so we decided to have him come and perform for our students,” McCoy said.
Seiz said while the Oaklawn Magnet students are able to take part in a string instrument program, Gardner Magnet and Langston Aerospace & Technology Magnet schools’ students do not normally receive this kind of musical exposure.
Oaklawn Magnet Principal Debbie Kopf said some students were invited on stage to sit and receive an “on- stage experience.”
“They asked for some students to sit behind the ensemble and observe,” she said, adding that it was the first time in a long time that Music Festival performers have visited the summer school program.
“If our schedules all work out, we’ve been able to take some of our kids to the dress rehearsals,” Kopf said. “It just worked out this year because our first week here is their last week of the Music Festival.”
McCoy said she hopes the performance will be beneficial for the students because “they will have a broader perspective about instrumental music and strings.”
During the ensemble’s performance, Robinson had the players introduce themselves and describe their instruments.