The school's string orchestra put on a mini-concert the other day and boy, were they good. They set up their chairs in the lobby at the end of the school day and serenaded the students as they headed out to the buses. There are about three dozen students in the orchestra, some as young as 6th and 7th grade, as well as seniors who have their eyes set on going to schools like Julliard.

The program included three pieces by Handel, Pachelbel's Canon, and Mouret's Rondeau (well known as the Masterpiece Theater theme music). The performers were all dressed in their black performance outfits and made an interesting contrast to the swirling crowd of exiting students who would pause as they passed by. There was also a small crowd of parents and faculty who stood around and listened to the whole 20 minutes of music and went away humming the classics. Or maybe that was just me.

Earlier in the week Lee and I went to the solo performances by the IB music students. Those are the ones who end up at Julliard and Berklee College of Music. Music is taken very seriously here and they love the classics. The two music teachers at KAS take every opportunity to let the students perform and we go to every performance. These kids are not like my peers back when I was in school. There is no cringing at missed notes or being off-key. Even the kindergartners do an impressive job up on stage.

And not only are these kids good, they seem to be really enjoying themselves. There is definitely some nervousness at having to perform in front of an audience but once they get started they pretty much all seem to relax and really get into the music, smiling, concentrating, enjoying themselves. It's pretty magical.