Tulsa Program Links Symphony Musicians With School Students

The Tulsa Symphony Orchestra is getting ready for season five of the Link Up Program. Link Up is a world-wide program of the Weill Institute of Carnegie Hall which is designed to pair symphonies and schools to teach the students about different styles of music.

"We reach between 19,000 and 20,000 students each year," said Dr. David Carter, principal clarinetist and education director with the Tulsa Symphony.

Carter will teach the teachers then the teachers will work with their students. This year the curriculum is The
Orchestra Swings.

"So everything is a little jazzier in this one," he said.

Sheryl Miller is the music teacher at Patrick Henry Elementary, and she says her students love this program.

"They don’t see it as going to the symphony and sitting in a seat; they are thinking I’m playing with the symphony and that’s awesome," she said.

The program starts in the fall and culminates in the spring with a series of concerts at the Tulsa PAC.