Comstock Park — Hands shot up quickly when Jinn Shin, cellist for the Grand Rapids Symphony, held up her bow and asked what it was made of.
“Horse hair,” a Pine Island Elementary fifth-grader responded.
Shin, who along with violist Megan Crawford and violinists Linda Nelson and Clara Schubilske make up the Quartetto Con Brio, and are all members of the Grand Rapids Symphony, visited the school as part of the symphony’s Artist in Residence program, or AIR.
Funded through a grant from the Grand Rapids Symphony and underwritten by Pine Island’s parent organization, the AIR program brings in small groups such as the string quartet and provides opportunities for students to attend programs.
Music teacher Amana Hite said the school has participated in the AIR program for about 20 years and it has allowed students to see and experience the symphony up close.
“It’s an experience that many of them won’t ever get except through this program,” Hite said, adding that the presentations make it possible for students to see different instruments before some will choose one for band in middle school.
Practice Builds Confidence
The quartet that visited Pine Island recently played several pieces that represented the seasons: fall, winter, spring and summer. Musicians demonstrated how they could make the sounds of rain and a thunderstorm, and explained how the sounds are created.
“So when I pull the strings they vibrate, and then the bridge vibrates and then the entire instrument vibrates, which causes the air around it to vibrate,” Shin said. “All that vibration travels through the air, and that is what you hear.”
During a question-and-answer session, third-grader Kai Drake asked about how members stay focused.
“Practice,” Shin said. “Practice is very important and it builds our confidence in our ability. So if you ever doubt yourself, practice. Whatever you decide to be involved in — math, reading sports or music — practicing will always help.”
Fourth-grader Kennedy VanTol said “It was cool to be able to feel the music and to see how they play the instruments. It certainly makes me excited about trying an instrument myself.”
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