The St. Joe Community Foundation recently made a donation for the purchase of 1,050 Peripole Halo Recorders to supply each student participating in the Sinfonia Gulf Coast Carnegie LinkUp program with their own recorder to utilize during music class, and the concert performance.  These recorders will include a Halo Hanger to suspend around the neck, a vinyl zippered case to house the recorder, and a self-adhesive “thumb spot”. 

LinkUp pairs orchestras across the country with schools in their local communities by inviting them to learn about orchestral repertoire through a year-long hands-on music curriculum.  This year’s curriculum is titled “The Orchestra SWINGS.”  District music teachers will begin working with their third, fourth and fifth grade students utilizing the curriculum materials that are provided free-of-charge by the Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.  Students are currently participating in active music making in the classroom, and will begin performing the repertoire on recorders and voice.  The culmination of the yearlong program is a live performance in which students have the opportunity to play recorders or sing along with the Sinfonia Gulf Coast Orchestra.   

Submitted by Keitha Bledsoe