On March 12, the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, transformed into a lively concert hall as Sinfonia Gulf Coast presented its 13th Link Up concert performance, “The Orchestra Swings." Sinfonia Gulf Coast is the only orchestra offering this program to students on the Emerald Coast. This interactive musical experience, held in partnership with Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, showcased the talents of nearly 3,000 local 3rd to 5th-grade students from Okaloosa and Walton Counties, who performed on recorders and sang alongside the professional musicians of Sinfonia Gulf Coast.
This year’s Link Up program was conducted by Aaron King Vaughn, bringing fresh energy to this beloved music education initiative. Vaughn guided the young performers through a program exploring the rhythmic elements that create the iconic swing feel in music.
With recorders in hand, students enthusiastically joined the orchestra in performing Duke Ellington’s It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) and Duke’s Place, and George Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm. Students were on their feet performing the high-energy rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In.
Reflecting on the event, Sinfonia Gulf Coast Music & Artistic Director Demetrius Fuller shared, “Link Up is my favorite concert of the year because it's a culmination of all of our partnership activities with Carnegie Hall in the schools for third through fifth graders throughout Okaloosa and Walton counties, and nearly three thousand kids come to perform live with Sinfonia. And while it's the craziest sound you've ever heard, it's just a wonderful amalgamation of music notation, history, theory, and learning how to play the recorder. And often it's the only music education that many of these kids receive, so it's very important that we continue to support this."
The Link Up curriculum, developed by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, is designed for 3rd to 5th-grade students and, in many cases locally, serves as the primary music education they receive during the school year. This year’s theme focused on discovering how rhythm and time unite musicians, singers, and audiences.
Sinfonia’s Link Up program is made possible through generous support from the St. Joe Community Foundation, the Dugas Family Foundation, and the Emeril Lagasse Family Foundation. Additional funding from Sinfonia Gulf Coast’s Crescendo! annual fundraiser, Treble Makers (an honorary membership committee of Crescendo!), and community donors has allowed Link Up to grow into Sinfonia’s largest education initiative.
For more information on Sinfonia Gulf Coast, visit SinfoniaGulfCoast.org, call (850) 460-8800, or email info@sinfoniagulfcoast.org.
