Submitted by Alyssa Bennett
Ludlow Elementary School and Black River High School Music Department will host the Spring Opus Concert at the Ludlow Town Hall on Wednesday, May 2nd at 6:30 pm. The Opus 24 Concert is a bi-annual event sponsored by VT MIDI Project that features Vermont student’s music compositions being played live by members of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. The Opus Concerts are held in a variety of venues around the state and this is the first time that Ludlow will host the event in our beautifully renovated Ludlow Town Hall.
Six Ludlow Elementary fifth and sixth graders are currently working with online music composer- mentors for the Opus 24 Concert through their school membership with the VT MIDI Project. These six LES students join more than 90 students in the state who are working with composer-mentors on their music compositions.
A record-setting 98 students from 27 different schools in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as well as independent study and home-schooled students are composing for the opportunity to have their piece performed in a live concert.
“Imagine composing your first piece of music in fifth grade, receiving feedback from professional composers, and then listening to your piece as it’s played in front of a live audience by professional violinists and clarinetists. This is a nationally recognized program and it’s happening in right here in our small state of Vermont. When I heard my first concert I was blown away at the level of creativity and precision demonstrated by our student composers. It was an auditory feast of original works”, Alyssa Bennett, Vermont MIDI Project Assistant.
We are proud to have received compositions from the following schools this year: Barnet School, Black River HS, Burlington HS, Champlain Elementary and Edmunds Middle School (Burlington), Colchester HS, Dummerston School, Enosburg MHS, Guilford HS (CT), Hardwick Elementary, Hartford HS (White River Jct.), Harwood Union HS, Hazen Union HS, Killington Elementary, Ludlow Elementary, Maple Street School (Manchester), Moretown Elementary, Mt. Holly School, North Country Union HS (Newport), Northfield Mount Hermon (MA), Poultney HS, Rutland Intermediate, Shoreham (Independent Study), Springfield HS, Stockbridge Elementary, The Grammar School (Putney), U-32 HS (Montpelier), Vermont Commons School (South Burlington), and home-schooled students.
Students and mentors continue to work together through online discussion by posting their composition files until March 31. Approximately 24 selected pieces will be announced on April 9th on our website.
Visit www.vtmidi.org/opus24.htm for more information or a sneak preview of the scores. Additional information is available on the FOLA (Friends of Ludlow Auditorium) site at www.fola.us.
The above photo was taken in the front parking area of the old Black River Produce store off Route 103 in Proctorsville. The truck configuration was about 200 feet long. The item was delivered to the MasTec office. According to Kerrick Johnson of VELCO, “The $1.4 million piece of equipment it is carrying is called a Shunt Reactor. It’s purpose is help keep Vermont’s electric transmission system in balance by regulating voltage levels whether demand on the grid is heavy or light. It will be in service at our Coolidge Substation in Cavendish. Planning how to transport this device is quite a challenge.” He also added that VELCO expects two more similar deliveries in Vermont in the near future. Johnson indicated that the shunt reactor would probably be moved to a “smaller” truck for delivery to the substation, possibly on Monday, April 2.
