The Festival Youth Orchestra will be presenting their Spring Concert this Sunday, May 6, at 6 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Alder Street in Sandpoint. All are welcome and admission is free.

The Festival at Sandpoint has sponsored the orchestra program for 10 years. Primarily started to give local youth a string ensemble experience that was not available in the public schools, the orchestras have also been open to moms who are learning a stringed instrument alongside their kids, and local community members who wanted to continue playing their instruments with an ensemble.

Students from this program have continued on to play in the Spokane Youth Symphony programs and even to major in music during college. This year, there were enough string students to have two separate orchestras; an advanced group that met at a ‘zero hour’ before school started, and a beginning orchestra that met in the evenings once a week. Both orchestras will present a short program of the music they have been learning throughout the semester.

For the Sunday concert, the orchestras will be joined by special guests Mika Hood and the Inland Northwest Chamber Collective. The INCC is a group of friends dedicated to bringing chamber music to new audiences. The members include Elizabeth Lund on violin, Elizabeth Hamilton on violin. Anita Perkins on viola, and Mika Hood on cello. They are all professional musicians who play with many ensembles, including the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra, the Spokane Symphony and the Yakima Symphony, and they teach across eastern Washington and Idaho.

Come join us for a fantastic musical event followed by light refreshments. Support local youth in their musical endeavors and listen to some beautiful music. For more information on The Festival’s string programs contact Karen Dignan at sandpointfiddle@gmail.com or 208-597-6717.