East Greenbush Orchestra Students to Perform

International recording artist Mark Wood, one of the original members of the multiplatinum selling Trans-Siberian Orchestra and creator of the revolutionary Viper electric violin, is working to inspire young string players with “Electrify Your Strings,” his groundbreaking music education program. He will perform in concert with orchestra students from Columbia High School, Howard L. Goff Middle School, and Bell Top, Green Meadow, Green, Genet, Red Mill, and Donald P. Sutherland Elementary Schools on Saturday, March 6th at 7:00PM. Mark Wood is the owner and operator of Wood Violins, one of the largest electric violin manufacturing companies in the world. He studied under Maestro Leonard Bernstein, and is a Juilliard-trained violinist and Emmy-winning composer who has done string arrangements forCeline Dion and others. In addition to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, he has worked with LennyKravitz, Billy Joel, Everclear, and many others.Mark will be performing with the students on his handcrafted 7-string fretted electric Viper violin. This exciting event will transform the student musicians into a full-fledged Rock Orchestra! The audience will be entertained by Mark’s original material, as well as his exciting arrangements of music by Led Zeppelin, Cream, The Beatles, and more. As part of this year’s “Electrify Your Strings” tour, Mark has been spending much of his time performing at schools all across the country, and has worked with orchestra directors to create more than 50 student rock orchestras. His music programs build on the strong foundation in classical music provided by the music teachers at each school he works with; creating a partnership with educators to create a learning experience for music students that can grow and evolve from year to year.