Most of the time, a string ensemble is just a small handful of people: a violinist or two, someone playing viola, a cellist, and maybe a bassist.
But Saturday night the string ensemble got a whole lot bigger. Almost 400 string musicians from around the region gathered at the Juanita High School Field House in Kirkland in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record™ for the largest string ensemble under one roof. The record-setting attempt, called String Jam ‘10, included musicians ranging in age from 5 to 65 years old.
The event also raised about $7,500 in proceeds that will benefit Lake Washington School District orchestra programs.
The group started with a classical string tune, Pachelbel’s Canon in D, and closed with a piece more fitting to their unique size: a string rendition of the guitar classic, Smoke on the Water.
In compliance with the stringent requirements set by the Guinness World Records™ organization, the event was videotaped and monitored by over 20 designated observers who were posted throughout the performance area to ensure that all participants were actually playing. At the end of the program, the official witnesses announced that the attempt appeared to meet all the criteria required. However, the final confirmation from Guinness World Records™ is expected to take approximately six weeks.
Most of the members of the world-record string ensemble were public school orchestra students who performed not only because they were excited about setting a world record, but because they wanted to send an important message to school administrators in this time of budget cuts: don’t cut our school orchestra programs!
String Jam ‘ 10 organizer Paula C. Ferguson, who is Orchestra Director at Redmond High School and Redmond Junior High School, conceived of the event to capture students’ imagination.
“Musicians today must be able to play much more than just classical music,” said Ferguson. “They must be able to play everything from Mozart to Celtic fiddle tunes to Coldplay, and they must play with passion and excellence. Having an opportunity like String Jam – to play in such a large group with musicians from all around the region – will be especially exciting for the youngest students who are just starting out.”
Ferguson was inspired to dream up a world record attempt after the growth of her own school orchestra programs led to an invitation for her students to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City last May.
After a successful debut in New York City, Ferguson returned to think about ways to get younger students as excited about music as her high school students had been about performing at Carnegie Hall. As a result, String Jam ’10, really touched a chord. Students from elementary orchestras around the Seattle area prepared and became excited for their chance to maybe get a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records™.
“We’ve seen record-setting growth in our school orchestra programs over the last few years,” Orchestra Director Ferguson said. “And now we’ll use that record setting growth to set a real world record. What a great opportunity for a student to be able to say, ‘I set a world record for playing my violin when I was 9.’”
The String Jam ’10 world record attempt was followed by a showcase performances by six-string electric violinist Geoffrey Castle; The Bottom Line Duo, a bass/cello husband-and-wife team that includes Spencer and Traci Hoveskeland; and several advanced student ensembles playing jazz and other non-traditional pieces on string instruments.
String Jam ’10 was presented by the Redmond Region Orchestra Boosters (a non-profit parent group that supports school orchestra programs), and the Lake Washington School District. String Jam was sponsored by Classical KING-FM and the City of Redmond Arts Commission.
