LinkUp celebrates music with more than 8,000 elementary students

The Fresno Philharmonic, in partnership with the Fresno County Office of Education and the Fresno, Central and Sanger unified school districts, provided a hands-on musical experience to more than 8,000 elementary school students at the Link Up: The Orchestra Sings performances on Wednesday, May 27 and Thursday May 28 at William Saroyan Theatre.

In collaboration with Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, the Fresno Philharmonic introduced Link Up to Fresno County schools for the first time last year. This event is the largest partnership between schools and a professional arts organization in Fresno County. Fresno is also the largest Link Up site in California and among the 10 largest Link Up partnerships in the nation.

Link Up curriculum is taught district-wide in Fresno, Central and Sanger unified school districts. Since October, students in more than 90 schools have been exploring melody by participating in active music-making in the classroom, performing on voice and recorder. The culmination of the program was a live performance with the Fresno Philharmonic conduct by Music Director Theodore Kuchar.

Link Up is one of the main events of Fresno’s Any Given Child initiative. The Fresno Philharmonic’s presentation of Link Up: The Orchestra Sings was made possible through an Artist in Residence grant from the Fresno County Office of Education and by the generous support from the Bonner Family Foundation, Bank of America, Bank of the West, Educational Employees Credit Union, Guarantee Goodwill Network, Schneider Electric, Donald and Judith Peracchi and Robert and Linda Glassman.