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Music Students Head to Washington

Students from New Haven's Neighborhood Music School are heading to Washington, D.C. to take part in workshop at the White House

By Kristie Borges

| Monday, Nov 2, 2009 | Updated 3:30 PM EDT

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Eighteen students from New Haven are heading to Washington, D.C. to take part in a classical music program at the White House.

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Practice, practice, practice gets you to Carnegie Hall. But getting to the White House takes even more.

On Tuesday, 18 students from the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven will be heading to Washington, D.C. to take part in the White House Community Classroom Music Series, a program hosted by First lady Michelle Obama.

The kids, in grades 8 to 12, will represent New Haven, Orange, Woodbridge, Milford, Westbrook, Guilford, Fairfield, Hamden, Cheshire, Southington, Branford and West Haven.

“For NMS to have received this invitation is truly a great honor and privilege. What an extraordinary opportunity for these high achieving and hard working talented youth. This is welcome news for NMS and shows the vitality of the School is not diminished even in this particularly difficult period of major cuts in operating support from the State and foundations,” said Larry Zukof, Neighborhood Music School Executive Director.

The group leaves tomorrow for Washington, D.C. and the workshops are being held on Wednesday.

They’ll join 100 others from throughout the country and take classes from violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, guitarist Sharon Isbin and pianist Awadagin Pratt.

Neighborhood Music School is among the 10 largest schools of its kind in the country, with 130 professional and dedicated teachers providing unique learning experiences to 2,500 children and adults residing in more than 90 towns through Connecticut.