Standing nervously in front of a crowd, the Grade 5 Strings performed for the first time at Walpole High School on May 27, 2009. Michael Falker and Mrs. Irina Naryshkova orchestrated an elementary, middle school, and high school strings night performance. There were a total of four acts that combined students from all four elementary schools as well as students from both Johnson and Bird Middle Schools. This concert is also the first in Walpole for Mrs. Naryshkova, who is a first year teacher.

The 5th Graders started the night by playing simple songs that used newly learned techniques such as quarter notes, quarter rests, half notes, etc. They played a total of five songs with an accompaniment from their teacher. Their first tune was “Lullaby”, a Traditional song. Following that, “The Rooster”, a Ukrainian song, was played. The third song was “The Fox.” Next was the infamous “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” by W.A. Mozart. The act ended with “Shortin’ Bread”, an American Folk Song. This event was the first time they performed on their string instruments for an audience. There were roughly 35 people in the Grade 5 Orchestra, and they prepared for the event by meeting about two to three times a week.

The next group to go was the Grade 6 Strings. They played a total of four songs. There were about 15 people in the 6th Grade Orchestra, and they practices about 3 times every seven days. The songs they played were “March,” “Dream Boat,” “Allegretto from the Surprise Symphony,” and “Chicken in the Kitchen.” Their favorite song was “Chicken in the Kitchen.” This was also the first time the 6th Grade Strings performed, but they played difficult music and met more frequently. All the songs for the Grades 5 and 6 Strings were arranged by Mrs. Naryshkova.

The third performance of the night was from the Grades 7 and 8 Strings. They performed a lovely “Interlude and Toccata” followed by “Tour of California.” The third piece was “Theme from Pirates of the Caribbean” – the favorite song of the group. They ended off with a fast paced song called “Gelena-Milwaukee Breakdown.” Because the Grade 7 and 8 have more experience, their songs were much harder. There were about 30 Strings all together.

The final production was from the Walpole High School Orchestra. The full orchestra was comprised of 40 String players and 20 auxiliary woodwind, brass, and percussion. The music they played was the same from Pops Night. The first song was “Shaker Variants,” which has a set of themes and variations based off on the shaker melody “Simple Gifts”. The main theme, simple gifts, is stated using a large variety of the musical palette. Every instrument plays some part of the melody at some point. The second song they played was “Music from The Dark Night.” The last song was “Rákóczy March,” a traditional Hungarian song.

This night honored the strings players for their hard work throughout the year and all the grades did a spectacular job, mastering each of the songs they played.