Florida State University’s Ruby Diamond Concert Hall was packed for a very special concert Friday (5/13) morning.
The audience for this particular concert actually got to play along with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. It was Tallahassee’s first-ever Link-Up Concert and event coordinator Carol Ann Matthews said it brought a bunch of 3rd through 5th grade Leon County public school kids to the hall.
“Approximately 900, all armed with recorders and violins,” she laughed.
Matthews said the kids, many of whom have never been to a concert, had been practicing for weeks so they could accompany the Tallahassee Symphony on several pieces of music.
“The whole purpose is not only to learn about music and all of the elements of music through the curriculum, but the focus is the process and the experience at the end,” she explained.
The Link-Up program began in New York City’s Carnegie Hall and has spread across the nation and to several foreign countries.