Whenever her sixth and seventh grade students play a wrong note, Oak Bluffs strings teacher Rebecca Laird requires them to give her a Swedish Fish, her favorite candy. It only seemed fitting that when a group of her students decided to form a string ensemble, they chose the chewy snack as inspiration for their name: The Swedish Fish Strings.
Wednesday morning, the ensemble made up of 11 Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Montessori School students performed for a gym-full of rapt, though occasionally restless, Oak Bluffs School students alongside a special guest, the Grammy-nominated Quartet San Francisco. Members of both groups stood beside each other and played an all-strings rendition of singer John Legend’s 2013 ballad All of Me. After the final notes rang out, the crowd of students, teachers and parents erupted with applause.
No Swedish Fish were needed.
“I love seeing them get the experience of playing with and standing side-by-side with real world musicians,” said Ms. Laird, proudly looking on.
The Quartet started the concert by playing a few songs of their own, including a piece called Rhapsody in Bluegrass, a fiddle-infused version of the jazz classic.
“We call this piece a mash-up,” Quartet founder and first violinist Jeremy Cohen explained. “It’s a little bit like oatmeal, we take different ingredients and mix them together.”
Next up was Boy Scout in Switzerland, a piece by Raymond Scott that had the students bobbing their heads to a playful, cello-led rhythm.
“Pretend you are a boy or girl scout yodeling through the mountains,” said cello player Andrés Vera.
The pairing was dreamed up by Kim Baumhofer, the education coordinator for the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society. In recent years, members of the Quartet have visited the Vineyard several times to perform at different Island schools and give lessons. This fall, Ms. Baumhofer invited the group to come for a residency and play alongside Vineyard student musicians for a student audience.
“Classical music still seems inaccessible to children,” she said. “The idea of having professional musicians who highlight what strings playing is like...we really look at it as support for young strings players so they will continue to play.”
Izzy Blake, a sixth-grade cello player for the Swedish Fish, chose her instrument not for its sound, but for her comfort.
“I didn’t feel like standing. Cello players get to sit,” she said.
Her friend Aiden Weiland, one of the group’s violin players, said the thrill of playing with some of the best musicians in the world helped him overcome his nerves. “You’re just in awe,” he said. “You see what they can do and it’s amazing.”
The Quartet also played a few selections for a classroom of kindergarten and preschool students that included a song familiar to every child, Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid. The students also added their voices to a Mongolian folk song and showed off their knowledge.
“Does anyone know what these are made out of?” asked Mr. Vera while holding his bow out.
“Horse hair!” yelled out several students.
As the band packed up, Mr. Cohen said he hoped that the morning’s performances awake a passion for music in the students and maybe motivate some of them to pick up an instrument.
“We realize that what we do can impact young kids’ lives,” he said. “Performances like this are what inspired us to get into the arts as kids.”
He praised the Swedish Fish Strings for bravely holding their own in front of their peers and for giving a performance worthy of any symphony hall.
“The kids were very well prepared. They stepped right up and played fearlessly,” he said. “We try to teach kids to fly with us. If they fly with us, they realize the freedom to express themselves fully.”
Quartet San Francisco will perform a free concert on Saturday, Nov. 10, at the West Tisbury Free Public Library beginning at 3 p.m.
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