ARTS

Sinfonia Gulf Coast swells to an orchestra of nearly 3,000 for student performance

The Destin Log
This year’s Link Up program showcased the talents of nearly 3,000 local third and fifth grade students from Okaloosa and Walton Counties performing on recorder and singing. The concert was conducted by Sinfonia Gulf Coast Maestro Demetrius Fuller.

The Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center in Fort Walton Beach was transformed into an electrifying concert hall on March 6 when Sinfonia Gulf Coast presented its 12th live Link Up concert performance “The Orchestra Rocks,” a national program it presented in partnership with New York’s Carnegie Hall Weill Institute of Music.  

Sinfonia Gulf Coast Maestro Demetrius Fuller.

Sinfonia Gulf Coast is the only fully professional non-profit orchestra on the Emerald Coast founded in 2005 by music and artistic director Demetrius Fuller 

This year’s Link Up program showcased the talents of nearly 3,000 local third and fifth grade students from Okaloosa and Walton Counties performing on recorder and singing. The concert was conducted by Sinfonia Gulf Coast Maestro Fuller.  

Nearly 3,000 local third and fifth grade students from Okaloosa and Walton Counties participated in the interactive concert at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center in Fort Walton Beach.

With recorders in hand, the students performed from their seats when given their cue by Maestro Fuller to join the Sinfonia Gulf Coast orchestra for a range of pieces from Come to Play by Thomas Cabansis, La Follia by Antonio Vivaldi, excerpts from Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, O Fortuna from Carmina Burana and others. But these inspired kids did not stay in their seats at this spirited performance which ended with a celebration of Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Goode they were up out of their chairs singing, dancing moves and parts they have been practicing for months.  

This curriculum is geared towards third and fifth grade students, and in many cases locally, is the only music education that they receive during the school year. The theme of this year’s Link Up program was centered around discovering how elements of rhythm and time can unite musicians, singers, and audiences.  

This year’s Link Up program showcased the talents of nearly 3,000 local third and fifth grade students from Okaloosa and Walton Counties performing on recorder and singing. The concert was conducted by Sinfonia Gulf Coast Maestro Demetris Fuller.

Sinfonia’s Link Up program is funded in part by the St. Joe Community Foundation, the Dugas Family Foundation, and the Emeril Lagasse Family Foundation. Additional funding from Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s Crescendo! annual fundraiser, Treble Makers, an honorary membership committee of Crescendo!, and community donors, has helped Link Up steadily grow to the Sinfonia’s largest education initiative.  

For more information on Sinfonia Gulf Coast visit http://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/qTwSClYkB5hXqDv0PfykWh_?domain=sinfoniagulfcoast.org, call (850) 460-8800 or e-mail info@sinfoniagulfcoast.org.