Dallas ISD third- and fifth-graders recently got the chance to attend an annual Dallas Winds concert specifically for them at the Music Hall at Fair Park. The Dallas Winds Experience is designed to encourage the students to love the music and eventually make some of their own.
“The whole idea is to give them a wonderful entertaining performance and encourage them to join the band when they get in sixth grade,” said Kim Campell, director of Dallas Winds.
Musical selections draw from the Music Memory project, so that students have studied some of the pieces in class, Campbell said. The performance brings the music to life on stage.
“It’s important for them because they get to see either what it’s like to grow up and be a part of a band,” said Sarah Gonzalez, music teacher at S.S. Conner Elementary School. “It’s when they go into band in middle school, it’s not just in sixth grade or high school, that they can carry it on the rest of their lives.”
Bradley Olesen, Dallas ISD’s director of Elementary Music, said his hope is that the concerts encourage students to be lifelong lovers of music.
“I don’t expect every one of these children to become professional musicians,” Olesen said. “But I certainly want them to say, ‘I understood what that was about, I enjoyed that.’ ”
