The time for the annual Londonderry District Strings Festival has arrived. Today, Tuesday, March 21, 2022, North, South, Matthew Thorton, LMS, and Londonderry High School’s orchestras will come together to perform their practiced pieces. The festival will take place at the LHS Gym from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. 

Admission is free, although the Friends of Music are accepting donations. 

The annual District Strings Festival is often an opportunity for high school orchestra players to reflect on how far they have come, and for elementary and middle school players to learn new techniques. 

“This concert is where all the schools come to perform as one unit, bringing people of all ages together,” senior LHS Orchestra member Aika Chen said. “It’s really something great! 

This event is a concert with a twist. Each school will perform their own pieces, however, certain schools will perform a piece together.

The Beginner String Orchestra ( Fourth Grade), directed by Molly Goldstein, will be performing the following pieces: 

1. Seminole Chant 
2. Lightly Row
3. Dreidel 
4. Song For Christine
5. Natalie’s Rose

The Second Year String Orchestra, directed by Molly Goldstein, will be performing the following pieces:

1. Bluebird’s Song
2. Oak Hollow 
3. A-Tisket, A-Tasket
4. Russian Folk Tune
5. Tallis Canon
6. Variations on a Familiar Song

The Londonderry Middle School String Orchestra, directed by Molly Goldstein, will be performing the following pieces:

Jupiter Rising………Gustav Holst, Arr. Carrie Lane Gruselle 

Shenandoah……………………….……. Arr. David Shaffer 

Double Agent …..……… Brian Balmages 

The Londonderry Middle and High School Orchestra will be performing:

 The Mandalorian …. Ludwig Goransson, Arr. Robert Longfield.

The Londonderry High School, directed by LHS Music Directors Serge Beaulieu and Emily Dawson, will be performing the following:

Palladio …. Karl Jenkins 

Inverno …. Antonio Vivaldi, Arr. Todd Parrish.

 Iditarod …. Soon Hee Newbold.

To close the concert, all elementary school orchestras, along with the middle and high school orchestra, will play Pachelbel’s Canon in D together. 

Those who started orchestra in elementary school in Londonderry have been a part of this festival for almost eight years. Every year, the concert ends with the combined piece of Canon in D. As a result, this closing piece is near and dear to the hearts of seniors in Londonderry. 

“I’m excited for the pieces we’re going to play, but it’s bittersweet that [this festival] is our last one,” senior LHS Orchestra member Riley Wolk said. “I’m going to miss it a ton.”