A History of Strings

The FCS String Orchestra is in its 13^th year!  Begun in 1999 under the direction of Mr. Sergio Espinosa, it was a “pull-out” program.  Students were pulled out from other classes a few days a week to explore the world of stringed-instruments.  It was a joint venture with the University of North Alabama. (Mr. Espinosa was also the stringed instrument professor at the university.)  In a short amount of time, Mr. Espinosa left the university, and thus FCS, to pursue other professional endeavors. 

           Dr. Daniel Hornstein took the post as director of both UNA's and FCS's string programs in the fall of 2001. As students advanced in grades, they continued the expansion of the school's string program, with the eventual goal of building a high school orchestra.

           In the fall of 2004, FCS decided to hire an instructor to teach exclusively in the schools and not “share” with UNA. Mr. Daniel Jamieson became the next director as a part time teacher exclusively with FCS. The program had not seen much growth during the previous years, due to the fact that it was a “pull-out” program. There were approximately 15-20 students involved total. Since 2004, some major changes have taken place in the structure of the program. The biggest, and most beneficial, is the addition of string orchestra as a regular, daily class for 9^th graders beginning in the fall of 2004, 7^th and 8^th graders in the fall of 2005, and then for all students 6^th grade and up beginning in the fall of 2006. 
          
            In the last few years, the orchestra has enjoyed hosting performing artists, including Montana Skies and Barrage.  There have also been numerous concert opportunities, including performing at the 2010 Alabama Music Educators' Association In-Service Meeting.  For the 2012-203 school year, the introduction of two full-orchestra concerts are scheduled.    Currently, there are approximately 150 students in the program.