UNG music faculty member Dr. Philip Snyder conducts the high school group during the first United Forsyth Orchestra Day.
Article By: Denise Ray
Five University of North Georgia (UNG) faculty members and roughly a dozen students participated in the first United Forsyth Orchestra Day at the Forsyth County Arts and Living Center, where more than 200 string students from 22 schools across the county performed on stage together.
While faculty directed high school and middle school orchestras, ran sectionals, and clinics, UNG students were on hand to assist wherever they were needed, and most were members of UNG's chapter of the collegiate branch of the National Association for Music Education.
"Working with younger students is always refreshing, especially the elementary school students," Dr. Esther Morgan-Ellis, associate professor of music history, said. "Some of the kids had a really special experience, maybe even life-changing."
Morgan-Ellis said the day was a great opportunity for UNG students, as most of those who participated want to become music educators.
"Some of them had eye-opening first experiences with what it is really like to work with large groups of young kids," she said. "I can tell you from my own experience that it is both exhilarating and exhausting."
