A Student Orchestra Where the Students Are Also the Teachers

21 June 2010

Matthew Martz started the Student Symphonic Orchestra of Fairfax, Virginia

BARBARA KLEIN: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember. This week on our program, we look at musical diplomacy, past and present. And we talk to an actor whose most recent role came from his own childhood. But first, we meet a group of high school students who started their own orchestra.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: The Student Symphonic Orchestra of Fairfax, Virginia, near Washington, recently celebrated its first anniversary. A young man named Matthew Martz started the group in his last year of high school. It began with twelve friends from the school orchestra. Michelle Bui was one of them.

MICHELLE BUI: "Matt is one of my very good friends, so I did it as a friend, but also because I love playing the violin."

STEVE EMBER: Michelle, who is now in college, says she likes that the students run the orchestra themselves. Music choices are usually decided by a majority vote.

MICHELLE BUI: "We've played pop music. We're playing "Phantom of the Opera." We're playing John Williams, who is a famous composer who did 'Indiana Jones' and 'Star Wars' and 'Superman,' in addition to the classical music."

Orchestra member Lizzie Culberston plays the French horn.