STRING JAMBOREE

PALMER — There were a lot of twinkles from the little stars on stage at First Baptist Church on Saturday as about 40 young musicians performed in the seventh annual String Jamboree with members of the Matanuska-Susitna Orchestra.

It takes a lot of pluck to perform for a live audience, even for a seasoned veteran like 7-year-old Jacob Marsh.

The Wasilla youngster has been playing the violin for “about three or four years” and was performing in his third Jamboree.

He gets a lot out of music and said there’s a lot of satisfaction getting to play with members of a real orchestra.

“Like, um, when you play, it just feels good and you know that you can keep going because you know you’re good.”

Marsh practices three to four days a week for 15 minutes, and said sometimes his fingers get sore. But that doesn’t stop him from having ambitions to be a songwriter.

“Like, I want to write a song and make it, like, a real medium song so if you’re a kid you can learn it easy,” he said. “And if you’re an adult you can just know it.”

Marsh was front and center on stage when the program began, a selection of beginner pieces for the younger students. An attentive audience of about 150 was polite and quiet as the combined orchestra performed “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “Go Tell Aunt Rhody,” “Allegro” and “Bile ‘Em Cabbage Down.”

Conducted by Kate Patterson, a Valley elementary school music education teacher, the students and orchestra members were professional in appearance and demeanor, taking their bows as the audience applauded.

Performing with local youth is a highlight for the orchestra, said Kent McMartin, president of the organization.

“Oh, it’s been a blast,” he said. “We had two practices with the youngest ones. The whole orchestra backs them up, but they’re the stars.”

The selection of music “is quite a variety,” he said. “It goes all over the place. We play some fast fiddle tunes and some old folk tunes, and we play some classical.”

It’s the fiddle music that appeals to 12-year-old Olin Marman. The Teeland Middle School student has been playing the violin for about eight years, he said, and enjoys the up-tempo pieces.

“It’s mostly the fiddle music I like,” he said. “I like how it’s fast and quick and how it just kind of flows.”

He practices, “every day of the week except Fridays, for about 15 minutes to a half hour.”

That’s in addition to his other musical interests, which include the alto and tenor saxophone. He plays the sax in the school band and said he may also take up another instrument.

“Next year I’m supposedly going to learn bassoon,” he said. “If I can learn that, I can supposedly get a really easy scholarship to college, because nobody else plays it.”

Music may play a large role in Marman’s life right now, but his real passion lies on the hardwood. “I revolve around basketball.”

As one of the more advanced students, Marman stayed on stage as the program moved into its second section featuring more advanced pieces. “Minuet 1,” “Trumpet Voluntary,” “Road to Boston” and “Si Bhaeg Si Mhor” resonated from the church stage.

Following a brief intermission, the orchestra cut loose with more challenging music, accompanied by those students who have more advanced skills.

Pairing experience with youth is a great way to support the arts, said Rose Hendrickson, a longtime Valley resident and viola player in the Matanuska-Susitna Orchestra.

“They’re wonderful,” she said about the students. “They are just so wide-eyed and eager and really interested in what they’re doing — and they have a great deal of promise. Any child who has the discipline to practice to get to this point shows promise.”

Maintaining a balance between other activities and the arts is important in the Marsh household, said Carol Marsh, Jacob’s mother.

The Jamboree “is good for them,” she said, “especially because they don’t usually get to see the other instruments (in an orchestra) until they come here. … I think it’s just amazing, and there’s something special about having all the kids together. It’s so different from listening to him in the living room alone.”

Youth athletics and music are both important, Carol Marsh said. “We have a rule: one sport, one instrument. I don’t care what it is, you just have to do it.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

IF YOU GO

• What: The Matanuska-Susitna Orchestra presents “Heavy on Holst,” an afternoon of music, sponsored by MTA and Palmer Log Church.

• When: April 18.

• Where: Palmer Train Depot

• Cost: Admission is free