STRING JAMS

STRING JAMS Spring 2024 Registration

Explore Modern Musical Styles on Your String Instrument!

STRING JAMS is an alternative-strings performance program focused on various genres of music — rock, pop, hop-hop, and jazz — as well as a few holiday favorites during the Fall season.

The program is open to young string players from the greater Fort Wayne area, especially those that want to explore the versatility of their traditional string instrument — violin, viola, cello, or bass — by learning and performing string arrangements of modern, popular music in public concerts and community events.

Program launchED: September 2020

First Spring concert: May, 22 2021
First Holiday concert: DECEMBER, 9 2021
Young musicians impacted seasonally: 20-30
Immersive performance experiences created: 140

String Jams participants range in age — most between 7th and 12th grade — and performance ability — anywhere between 1 and 6 years of playing their instrument.

Our mixed-level format allows our older musicians to develop performance leadership skills by leading the younger, less experienced ones. It also allows our younger players to build their confidence in musical performance as they perform with the older, more experienced ones.

And of course, it allows everyone to have fun jamming together!

Fun Fact

String Jams originally launched as a pandemic-adapted, limited-size orchestra to allow young musicians to continue to perform together. When COVID struck the world in early 2020, nearly all music performances stopped. Since string players could perform with a mask on, it was our time to shine!

However, when our first scheduled Holiday Concert in December 2020 was cancelled due to a rise in COVID cases, our Fall 2020 jammers pivoted and released a Virtual Holiday Concert — after all, the show must go on!