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An Elementary Lesson in Classical Music; Schools Bring 8,000 Fourth- Graders to See Symphony Orchestra

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From: The Washington Post
Date: 20080418
Author:Nelson Hernandez - Washington Post Staff Writer

If music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, as the English dramatist William Congreve wrote about three centuries ago, yesterday it did something even more remarkable: It quieted a concert hall packed with 2,500 fourth-graders.

The young students, vibrating with energy, were from Prince George's County. For the first time, the county has sent all of its fourth-graders to a series of concerts at the Kennedy Center this week in a partnership with the National Symphony Orchestra.

All meaning 8,000.

Before the concert began, the students were making music of their own. After leaving scores ...

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