Park Avenue cub reporter reviews a night of musical greatness

Warwick - The 2007 “String Fling” was a performance to be remembered. Held on the eve of June 12, the concert consisted of Warwick’s fifth through twelfth grade orchestras at the Warwick Valley High School. Each orchestra had a couple of pieces to perform. A large, selected orchestra group called the “Wire Quire” also gave breathtaking performances. First off were the Park Avenue and Pine Island elementary schools on the “The Cuckoo Clock.” Following that were the Kings and Sanfordville elementary schools, who performed “Rustic Dance.” Then a smaller, select orchestra played the theme for “Jurassic Park” arranged by John Higgins. Next was the sixth grade orchestra, followed by the Wire Quire. The Wire Quire not only used string instruments such as the violin, viola, cello or bass, but the musicians also used the drums, an electric guitar and an electric bass to perform their excellent music. The seventh grade orchestra then took the stage, followed by the eighth and high school (ninth through twelfth grades) orchestras. The show ended with a bang. “Twinkle Variations,” variations of the theme “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” was first played by the fifth grade, then sixth grade, then seventh grade, etc. But there was also a bit of fun mixed into the variations. Students had the chance to come up with their own variations of the theme, adding a bit more interest to the music. Of course, some laughs were thrown in such as the musical punch line: “We need more cowbells!” Another point of interest was the way the orchestras mixed different styles of music together. Every performance that night received a booming, ear-splitting cheer from the audience. Well done string (and percussion) players. Henry Steng was a cub reporter for the Warwick Advertiser during the just completed school year, covering events and people at Park Avenue Elementary.